On free will

Hello, it’s been a while! I’ve been reading/listening to a lot of Robert Sapolsky lately and have been troubled by the notion/prospect of lack of free will and it’s corollaries; entitlement, reward, punishment, luck in life, etc (here’s a quick review on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv38taDUpwQ). I still don’t think there’s free will in the sense in which we’re all brought up to think about it, but there are certain subtleties that helped me frame it in a way that I can cope with (and hopefully explain it to others, including my kids when they’re old enough to worry about such things).

Our will doesn’t follow “us”, we follow our will.

There is an us in the picture, we’re not puppets. Will is free in the sense that it’s not pre-determined, i.e. we cannot accurately predict it and that’s because of environment, chance events, chaos, Brownian motion, whatever you wanna call it (nobody could tell you exactly what you’d be doing at 9:17 tomorrow morning, even if they had full data on all the atoms in your body). Lack of “free will” is a scary prospect which can be paralyzing (is there any point in doing anything? I’m going to choose the opposite of what my brain is telling me, feeling depressed, etc). So it makes sense that with the evolution of self-consciousness, we have also evolved a sense of free will. And it’s very tough to think about the lack of it and of course it’s depressing and paralyzing.

What now? You don’t have to think about it every day. But think about it next time you decide to judge someone harshly, or fight with your partner about how they “always” do this or that, or your child because they are being “naughty” or an adversary that’s set to make your life miserable. This very comment is not a result of free will, but it is very much a result of circumstance (having a high sense of righteousness, being fortunate enough to have caring parents and a high enough education, accepting a job where I met a colleague who recommended Sapolsky, reading some of his books, and having a blog). However, what this comment might do is, by someone’s chance encounter of it, sway their path in life ever so slightly. And this is how it goes. What is the net effect? We are all gaining more knowledge, empathy, understanding. We are evolving (no surprise there). So I’m not too worried about it. I’m fortunate enough to be stuck with “me”, a mostly homeostatic individual, and I’m loving the ride that my will is giving me!

All I want for Christmas is my two flat feet

I feel like I’ve bested the biggest physical burden of my life and would like to reflect on my experience. I was born with flat feet; not a disability by any standard, but a hinderance. A hinderance in physical activities, but most importantly, god forbid, style. When I was a child, the orthopaedist recommended I wear special footwear and always tie my shoe-laces. That was very “uncool” so I never did. And even though I was very keen on sports, I could not run very fast. So I took up swimming instead (and subsequently rose to the top 8 butterfly swimmers in the country). The years went by, fashion shoe after fashion shoe, step after step, doctor after doctor, orthotic after orthotic, I came to a point where I could not even stand on my two feet. I had to always be in sports shoes and rest often, lest my ankles would be in extreme pain. I shied away from walking barefoot, going out for long, or even travelling which meant sightseeing which meant walking. I got to a point where my life and soul were dependent on how much my feet were hurting that day. I was 26.

I thought to myself, this is it. This is where my life changes. This is where being healthy ends and I should probably take up reading more books because that’s the only thing I’ll be able to do in a few years! That was until somebody suggested that this problem of mine might be psychosomatic. “But I was born this way” I said furiously. How could somebody suggest something ridiculous like that. However, this idea struck a chord in me. For the first time I considered that this “birth defect” might be fixable. I entered in a completely different state of mind. I was recommended to see an osteopath (I subsequently met the magnificent Cedric of Fulham osteopaths in London) and I also found a good insole shop (http://www.profeet.co.uk/ I cannot speak highly of them enough). And with tango and capoeira as hobbies of a few years, I started focusing more on posture, flexibility and strengthening those little foot muscles I had left for dead all these years. Thanks to the change of mindset, the guidance of Cedric, the insoles at Profeet and my focus on core strength and stretching, 4 years later, I can not only walk without pain, but also walk and train barefoot. As I look back, being a pro swimmer, picking up rock climbing, tango and now capoeira may have never caught my attention had it not been for my flat feet.

This story might sound trivial to some. and I’m sure everyone has heard a version of the phrase “a blessing in disguise”. The truth is that each and every person has a cross to bear; but this cross takes us places that would otherwise be too mundane to discover. And there is beauty in that.

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The All-American small-talk

Mastering the All-American small-talk is as simple as A-B-C!

A) [Hi/Hey/Hello], how are you?

B) [Good/ Fine/ Great/ OK], and you?

C) [Good/ Fine], thanks!

Pro tip #1: Try to speak as fast as possible (practice at home if needed)

Pro tip #2: Continue walking while speaking as fast as possible

smalltalkBonus: Step C occurs when you have walked so far past each-other that further conversation would be inaudible. You can use the graph below as a rough guide: