People have been wondering for centuries, if there really is free will or if we are beings predetermined by genetics and culture.
There are interpretations of this theme, which distrusts the idea of free will as a real potentiality, and considers, as Humberto Maturana has written, that everything a human being does depends on his structure and that there is nothing he can do outside of his biological limits.
Others estimate that in addition to genetic predisposition, factors such as birthplace, the type of family in which we grow up, school learning and the influence of the mass media and advertising, configure mental fences from which it is difficult to escape, Because as Gurdjieff said, the problem is not being unconscious, but thinking that it is not. Osho considered that he who believes he has the truth no longer goes looking for it. Thus, these social agents can be seen as evident reducers of free will.
Dr. Benjamin Libet, an American researcher, considers that in reality the idea of free will does not make much sense physiologically speaking. This researcher carried out to measure the temporal distance between the action and the voluntary decision. And he discovered, to the amazement of many, that a person's awareness of having made an intentional movement occurs exactly 350 thousandths of a second after the movement. From here, it has concluded that an action is executed first and then awareness of what is done occurs.
Antonio Damasio, an expert in brain functioning, considers that we must distinguish two levels of brain performance, since in his opinion the chandler is like a building with two levels, one lower and one higher. The lower one is responsible for the most basic instinctive or primary emotional responses, and exists to help us respond quickly without having to stop to think about the details of the response (Ex: jump to avoid an oncoming car, hide or show us as dangerous to ward off potential enemies or predators). These emotional responses are not conscious, in the sense that they are not chosen by us voluntarily, since they respond to the activation of nervous or neural circuits in charge of maintaining survival.The higher level handles complex situations that involve cultural or social aspects, they usually participate in the elaboration of emotional responses, certain sectors or systems of the most evolved part of the brain, the neo-cerebral cortex. Both levels are closely related, and today key aspects such as decision making or planning are known to require the dynamic and integrated participation of both levels of the brain.
Sociobiology, in the voice of its proponents as EO Wilson, consider that biology actually decides what we do, and that our behavior can be explained as the result of evolutionary advantages, that is, what seems to be chosen by us, is actually the product of a genetic conditioning force that works in a certain way to preserve and help the spice to evolve.
However, there are indications that fight in favor of free will: The French philosopher René Descartes affirmed, said in the middle of the 17th century, that free will is a power that allows human beings to accept one idea and reject another.
More recently, Neuroscience has expressed that it is possible to modify our brain voluntarily. This is so, because our brains are flexible, "plastic", malleable, and adapt and modify based on what we think, feel and do. Thus, a person can become more joyful, more logical or more creative, if he dedicates himself to developing those capacities. This potential is known as "neuroplasticity" and is an encouraging factor for those who believe in personal initiative. Even when we watch others act, we are also changing internally, since there are specialized cells called "mirror neurons" that activate and make us copy, imitate, learn what others are doing.
Also the postulates of "Quantum Mechanics", modern branch of Physics, endorse the idea of free will. Proponents of this discipline, affirm that there is no defined reality, but a set of infinite possibilities that are expressed at every moment. To put it in the words of the poet Antonio Machado: "walker there is no path, the path is made by walking." This indicates that people can influence the systems in which they participate, which had already been pointed out by Albert Bandura, who pointed out more than five decades ago, that individuals influence society and society influences individuals.
This principle was called "reciprocal determinism".
In conclusion, although we are influenced by biology and by society, this does not prevent us from using consciousness, creativity and will to create powerful changes and self-determination at every moment. It could be said that we are a dynamic and dialectical combination that expresses both conditioning and freedom. Thanks for reading me. Twitter: @doctorrenny Web: www.laexcelencia.com.
