Serotonin in the brain can be understood as an extension of the gut's serotonergic system, which controls digestion. Central serotonin activity mimics a digestion/satiety circuit, where low serotonergic tone facilitates cognitive automaticity and higher tone helps identify flexible solutions when initial responses fail. This perspective explains serotonin's roles in reward processing, exploration, and psychedelic experiences, and clarifies links between serotonergic dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms.
This review of Rick Repetti's book on Buddhism, meditation, and free will argues that South Asian Buddhist philosophy offers an alternative framework for thinking about freedom and agency. The author contends that there is no single position a Buddhist must take on free will, and that the silence of Buddhist thinkers on this issue may be instructive for contemporary free will skeptics considering individual and collective liberation.