- cross-posted to:
- science@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- science@beehaw.org
Before epilepsy was understood to be a neurological condition, people believed it was caused by the moon, or by phlegm in the brain. They condemned seizures as evidence of witchcraft or demonic possession, and killed or castrated sufferers to prevent them from passing tainted blood to a new generation.
Behave is a great (if fucking beefy) read on a broad variety of influences on human behavior (it’s 1B to Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow on my nonfiction list), but one expert’s opinion on something as inherently unmeasurable as free will doesn’t warrant a news story.