Neuroscientist Claims You Have NO Free Will… But Here’s What He’s Missing

Why Sam Harris Is Wrong About Free Will

Sam Harris has built a convincing argument against free will. The neuroscientist claims our choices are nothing more than predetermined outcomes of brain chemistry and prior causes. He believes you're basically a biological robot stumbling through life on autopilot. But what if I told you that Harris has missed the most important part of the equation? What if the truth about free will is far more profound than either determinism or libertarian freedom? The answer lies in a spiritual understanding that transforms everything we think we know about choice and consciousness.

Harris argues that if he had your exact atoms, genes, and life experience, he would make identical choices. On the surface this seems logical. He points to neuroscience studies showing brain activity precedes conscious awareness. Your brain decides before "you" decide. Therefore free will must be an illusion. Case closed. Except it isn't closed at all. This materialist view ignores the most fundamental question of existence itself.

The Missing Piece of the Puzzle

Before you incarnated into this physical body, you existed as pure consciousness. You weren't a victim of random biological processes. You chose to come here. Think about that for a moment. You selected this particular life with its unique challenges and opportunities. You picked your parents, your circumstances, and even the broad strokes of your journey. This isn't wishful thinking or new age nonsense. It's the ancient wisdom that cultures across the globe have understood for millennia.

We set the curriculum but our choices are the exam. This is where Harris gets it spectacularly wrong. Yes, you chose the general framework of your life before arriving here. You decided what lessons you needed to learn. Maybe you came to understand compassion through hardship. Perhaps you're here to master forgiveness or develop courage. You created the syllabus. But once you're here in physical form, every choice you make determines whether you pass or fail those tests.

The determinism Harris promotes removes all meaning from existence. If you're nothing but a meat puppet controlled by neurons firing in predetermined patterns, why bother trying to improve? Why meditate, grow, or change? His philosophy leads to nihilism dressed up in scientific language. It's intellectually fashionable but spiritually bankrupt. The truth offers something far more empowering and ultimately more accurate.

You Are Not Your Brain

Harris makes a fundamental error by conflating consciousness with brain activity. Your brain is the hardware but you are not the computer. You're the eternal awareness experiencing life through this temporary biological vessel. When neuroscientists measure brain activity preceding conscious choice, they're observing the interface between spirit and matter. They're seeing the translation process, not the origin of consciousness itself.

Consider meditation for a moment. When you sit quietly and observe your thoughts, who is doing the observing? If you were merely your brain, you couldn't step back and watch your own mental processes. Yet you can. You possess a level of awareness that transcends the electrochemical reactions in your skull. This observer consciousness is your true self. It's the part of you that existed before this life and will continue after your body returns to dust.

The spiritual framework explains what materialism cannot. Why do some people overcome terrible childhoods while others remain trapped? Why do individuals with similar genetics and environments make radically different choices? Because the soul brings its own history, wisdom, and intentions to each incarnation. You're not starting from scratch. You carry forward everything you've learned across multiple lifetimes.

Choice Within Structure

Free will doesn't mean unlimited options or freedom from consequences. It means agency within the framework you created. Imagine signing up for university. You chose your major and selected your classes. Once the semester starts, you can't suddenly decide organic chemistry should be easier because you don't like it. The curriculum is set. But whether you attend lectures, complete assignments, or skip class entirely remains your choice. Your grades reflect those decisions.

Life works exactly the same way. You enrolled in Earth School to learn specific lessons. The broad curriculum is determined. You'll face certain types of challenges because that's what you came here to master. But how you respond to those challenges is entirely up to you. Do you react with anger or compassion? Do you blame others or take responsibility? Do you grow or stagnate? These choices matter profoundly.

Harris would argue these responses are predetermined by your brain state and prior conditioning. But this view collapses under scrutiny. People change dramatically throughout their lives. Former addicts become counselors. Victims become advocates. Angry people learn peace. If we were truly deterministic machines, such transformations would be impossible. The fact that growth happens proves consciousness has agency.

The Purpose of Forgetting

You might wonder why we don't remember choosing this life. There's a brilliant reason for that amnesia. If you recalled every detail of your pre birth planning, the lessons wouldn't work. You'd know all the answers before the test. You'd see the challenges coming and avoid them entirely. The whole point of being here would be defeated.

Forgetting creates authentic experience. When you don't remember that you chose this particular struggle, you have to genuinely work through it. The emotions are real. The growth is earned. The wisdom becomes permanently integrated into your eternal being. This is why spiritual awakening feels like remembering rather than learning. You're recognising truths your soul already knows but your human mind forgot.

The Deeper Truth Inner Circle explores these concepts in depth. When you understand that you're an eternal being having a temporary human experience, everything shifts. Your problems don't disappear but they take on new meaning. You're not a victim of random circumstance. You're a student who enrolled in exactly the right course.

Responsibility and Compassion

Harris worries that believing in free will leads to harsh judgment of others [web:2]. He's right to be concerned about that. But his solution throws the baby out with the bathwater. Understanding that people chose their life circumstances doesn't mean we lack compassion. Quite the opposite. When you realise everyone is here to learn their own lessons, you stop judging their journey.

Someone struggling with addiction chose that challenge to learn something essential about themselves. That doesn't make their suffering less real or worthy of support. It means their struggle has purpose beyond random misfortune. You can offer help while recognising they're working through their own curriculum. This perspective cultivates genuine compassion without the patronising pity that materialism encourages.

At the same time, you take full responsibility for your own choices. You can't blame your parents, your genes, or your circumstances when things go wrong. You selected these exact conditions to facilitate your growth. Every obstacle is an opportunity you created for yourself. This is tremendously empowering. You're not a helpless victim. You're a powerful creative being who designed this entire experience.

The Evidence All Around Us

Look at children and you'll see evidence of pre existing consciousness. Some babies arrive calm and peaceful. Others come in fighting and angry. These personality differences appear immediately, long before environment could shape them. Past life memories occasionally surface in young children who describe places and people they couldn't possibly know. These cases have been rigorously documented by researchers like Dr Ian Stevenson.

Near death experiences provide another compelling data point. People report leaving their bodies, reviewing their lives, and encountering spiritual beings who help them understand their life's purpose. They describe choosing to return to complete unfinished lessons. These accounts remain remarkably consistent across cultures and belief systems. Materialists dismiss them as hallucinations but the evidence continues mounting.

Even quantum physics has begun catching up to ancient spiritual wisdom. The observer effect shows consciousness influences physical reality at the subatomic level. The universe isn't the clockwork mechanism Harris imagines [web:6]. It's far stranger and more wonderful than that. Matter and consciousness are intimately connected in ways science is only beginning to grasp.

Living With True Free Will

Understanding that you chose this life changes everything. You stop waiting to be rescued and start taking action. You recognise that the power to change your experience lies within your choices right now. Not the big dramatic choices necessarily. The small moment to moment decisions about how you think, speak, and behave.

This is where the real exam happens. You chose the curriculum but you're taking the test every single day. Do you choose love or fear? Growth or comfort? Truth or convenient lies? Your eternal progression depends on these choices. They're not predetermined by neurons firing. They emerge from the deepest part of your being, the consciousness that predates your brain and will survive its death.

Sam Harris offers intellectual sophistication without wisdom. He's mapped the hardware but missed the programmer entirely. Don't let his credentials intimidate you into abandoning what your soul knows to be true. You are not a biological robot. You're an infinite being having a finite experience. You chose to be here. Make your choices count.

If you're ready to explore these deeper truths, subscribe to The Craig Beck Show (The Deeper Truth) on YouTube. Every week we dive into the spiritual principles that transform lives and awaken consciousness. This isn't entertainment. It's the education your soul came here to receive.

References and Further Reading

Harris, S. (2012). The Illusion of Free Will. Retrieved from https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-illusion-of-free-will

Morris, S.G. (2020). The Impact of Neuroscience on the Free Will Debate. Florida Philosophical Review. Retrieved from https://cah.ucf.edu/fpr/article/the-impact-of-neuroscience-on-the-free-will-debate/

Shortform Blog. (2023). Sam Harris on Determinism: Every Event Is Caused by Other Events. Retrieved from https://www.shortform.com/blog/sam-harris-determinism/

Van Deurzen, E. (2023). Review of Sam Harris' Free Will. Retrieved from https://www.emmyvandeurzen.com/blog-2-1/blog-post-title-one-jel26-ajj7d-a96e7