Degrees of Freedom

On this rebroadcast of The Pulse: Freedom sounds great as an idea. Who doesn't want to be free to do what they want? But when you take a closer look, freedom becomes more complicated. What does it really mean to be free — and how free can we be? On this encore episode, we'll look at freedom from different perspectives. We'll talk with a neuroscientist who says we evolved to have free will — even though it can sometimes feel like our brains are just following a bunch of preset options. And we'll hear from a social psychologist who says that being human means we need other people and living in groups always comes with limitations. We'll also meet a man who relied on a single word to unlock more freedom in his life.