Research Paper on:
Free Will and the Future

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
with regard to mind-brain connection, consciousness, free will and humanistic values was instrumental in setting forth commonsensical interpretations of ideas that had heretofore been out of the grasp of comprehension.  Sperry believed that humanity is not made up of unconscious robots that have no control over their being, but is rather a self-determined lot whose "actions are macro-determined by  the reasons and values which occupy the highest, conscious level of our organismic structure" (Bissell, no date, p. indexmm1.html). It was clear to Sperry that man differed greatly from  the rest of the animal kingdom in that human actions are primarily motivated not only by the very basic of all inherent survival tactics -- physical impulses, pleasure/pain and desire/aversion  -- but just as much by the virtue of thoughts, judgments, beliefs and values. Behind Sperrys theory was the concept of "being in touch" (Bissell, no date, p. indexmm1.html)  with such internal aspects as beliefs, ideas, reasoning, hopes, thoughts, memories and temperament. He argued that being tuned into these elements helps to tap into our intrinsic "sense of  alternatives" (Bissell, 2002, PG). This notion, according to Sperry, was humanitys freedom of the will, in which people are able to determine their own choices, as opposed to being  automatically programmed for response. The concept of a rational society, in which the entire community is greatly influenced by principles its members completely and accept without challenge -- has indeed  proven to be one of the most powerful standards of human culture. "Of course, to defend free will, self-consciousness, and reasoned action does not mean that everything we do  is always conscious or rational" (Calahan, 1998, 7). When one thoughtfully considers the argument applied to free will versus determinism, the obvious conclusion one must reach is that Gary