Does the human brain really allow for complete free will? Not long ago, I read an interesting research paper by Patricia Churchland titled; "The Big Questions: Do we have free will?" In that paper, Dr. Churchland describes a case whereby an individual with a brain tumor was unable to control a certain type of behavior - once the brain tumor was taken out, that behavior went away, but later it came back again, and so did the behavior. That's pretty interesting isn't it? And it was well documented.
Indeed, I would submit to you as did Dr. Churchland in writing that piece that free will may not be all that it seems. Now then, let me ask another question, and pose a hypothetical, I'd like to give your brain a little bit of a workout here. Let's go ahead and use a recent event, a tragic one, it see if we can't work through this logically. Let me start by asking you a series of questions;
What if a soldier is exposed to too much depleted uranium tipped exploded ordinance on 3 tours in Iraq, then ends up with neurological challenges, brain cancer, tumor, and then his PTSD issues are exacerbated and next, he goes into an Afghan village on his fourth our, and kills locals? (yes, I realize there is more to the story, and the ethical behavioral history here, but bare with me for a moment).
Now then, what if a combination of tumor reducing anti-bodies (type undetermined, only suspected), which have little side effects [Please read; Life Science Leader article; "Single Antibody Shrinks Variety Of Human Tumors Transplanted Into Mice, Study Shows," published on March 29, 2012 by Krista Conger] and Increased Omega 3, plus solid sound sleep in a Faraday Cage - if we did all that could we prevent such events in the case of brain tumors? If so, what else might we be able to do?
What I'm asking is can we get past perhaps some of the challenges we are causing ourselves, defeat PTSD problems, and get back to what we might consider free will? Even if we can get back all the way, can we get close enough for us to perceive and believe that we have free will during our life experience. Can we get these PTSD soldiers back? Of course, this takes philosophy, neurology, psychology, biotech, and captures all the realities of nature versus nurture and throws it all into one soup.
Can we realign the letters in that alphabet soup so that we can read clearly, and know what we're dealing with in the future? Can we solve these pressing challenges, some which we have created, and some which bind us, entrap us, and torture our resolve - play with our sense of justice, morality, and integrity? As you know, my job is to provoke thought - your job is to do the heavy mental lifting here. "This is your mission if you 'choose' accept it," and that's all.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Mind Enhancement Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/
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