Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them

Does this mean you're reconsidering your opinion that the idea of "free will" is meaningless in an atheistic context? ;-)

Link to a PDF outlining the study, with graphs and methodology: [http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v11/n5/suppinfo/nn.2112_...]

Regardless, I don't see how this particular experiment threatens the idea of free will. It found that there was a disconnect between the moment that a person made a decision -- subconsciously -- and the moment in which they became aware of their decision, or "decided to make a decision".

Also, the decisions being made required no consideration on the part of the subjects, which I think is an important factor when talking about free will. The test subjects didn't have to consider the consequences of their decisions before making them; they simply pushed a button with either their left or right hand.

While I don't believe in free will, by any sane definition of the term, all this would prove (even if their prediction algorithm were perfect) is that there is a time lag between thought and action. A delay does not equal lack of free will.

The only reason that the neuroscientists got this research published was because they challenged the idea that there was no free will. It's a topic that gets good press.

It was probably a great choice for their careers.

> Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them

Cold readers can too. OMFG!