Neuroscience, free will and determinism: 'I'm just a machine' - Telegraph

Neuroscience, free will and determinism: 'I'm just a machine' - Telegraph: "For a man who thinks he's a robot, Professor Patrick Haggard is remarkably cheerful about it. 'We certainly don't have free will,' says the leading British neuroscientist. 'Not in the sense we think.' It's quite a way to start an interview. We're in the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, in Queen Square in London, the nerve centre – if you will – of British brain research. Prof Haggard is demonstrating 'transcranial magnetic stimulation', a technique that uses magnetic coils to affect one's brain, and then to control the body. One of his research assistants, Christina Fuentes, is holding a loop-shaped paddle next to his head, moving it fractionally. 'If we get it right, it might cause something.' She presses a switch, and the coil activates with a click. Prof Haggard's hand twitches. 'It's not me doing that,' he assures me, 'it's her.'"