Free will is
an illusion.
At birth, a
person has a given level of intelligence and certain neural
predispositions. One’s brain is
predisposed for intensity of activity in certain areas in that three-pound mass
within the cranium, resulting in the formation of synaptic connections among
neurons that increase the likelihood of one being adroit in mathematics,
natural science, written expression, visual art, music, or dance. Certain predispositions are common to all
people, so that some behaviors pertinent to language acquisition and the
manifestation of various physical, physiological and emotional abilities at
certain life stages are witnessed as universal human phenomena.
Biological
predisposition, whether specific to a given individual or to all people at
successive life stages, is powerful; but
environment is at least as powerful.
Everything about a person that is not determined by biological
disposition is determined by environment.
As we go through life, our biological predispositions interact with
those rewards and punishments present in our lives. The rewards occur either as positive
reinforcement or negative reinforcement;
the former is pleasant and if presented repeatedly over time rewards the
reproduction of similar behavior, while the latter removes an aversive
condition in such a way as to reward the behavior that induced removal of the
unpleasant experience. Punishment is an
aversive experience that makes less likely the reproduction of the behavior
occurring at the time.
Thus, who we
are as individuals is determined by what we are at birth and what our environment
shapes us to become. In the absence or
unusually debilitating cognitive, emotional, or physical conditions; or, in the absence, conversely, of towering
traits of genius; human beings share more
similarities than differences. The natural
intelligence of most people falls within a similar enough range to allow a
certain person to learn anything that others can learn, with slight differences
having to do with the time necessary to learn the information. And, though there are in individual human
beings initial particular propensities to form synaptic connections making one
more adroit in mathematics, natural science, written expression, visual art,
music, or dance, over time avid interest and dedicated practice allow most people
to reach high levels of performance in those areas of human endeavor.
This reality
of human behavior as determined solely by the interaction of biological inheritance and environmental circumstance has enormous
implication for understanding major phenomena pertinent to economic status,
educational attainment, and ethical conduct, with the most important tenets of
reality being these:
>>>>>
One
becomes economically poor, middle class, or wealthy due to the way that environment
shapes biologically inherited traits.
The education that one receives, the amount that one reads, the words
that one hears, the behavioral models provided by the adults in one’s personal
universe, the emotional environment in which one dwells, and the opportunities
provided to people according to their economic class of nativity and natal
family are powerful determinants of paths to poverty or wealth.
>>>>>
Educational attainment is determined by the interplay
of biological inheritance and personal environment. Children respond to the positive reinforcers and
punishments in their environment in such a way as to acquire those values and habits
of interest and diligence that determine educational success.
>>>>>
Morality
and ethical conduct are also determined by the interplay of biological inheritance
and personal environment. One becomes
good or bad according to the prevailing standards of society, not because of
good or bad choices, because choice is an illusion. One becomes good or bad in response to the
positive reinforcers and punishments received as an infant, toddler, child,
adolescent, and adult.
Once we
understand the biological and environmental imperatives that determine human
behavior, we must then understand the way in which the circumstances of history
provide starkly different environmental contexts for people according to race,
class, and gender.
As we
examine the reality of behavioral determinism, we must divest ourselves of the naïve
attachment to the notion of free will.
Human beings have no free will. They
do, though, have consciousness and great intelligence; they have, therefore, the capacity for self-understanding
and decision-making on the basis of those behaviors most likely to produce
favorable results for themselves and, by extension, others.
Ironically,
we get closer to acting in a manner associated with free will not through some
ingenuous appeal to the better exercise of volition, but rather by emphasizing our
capacity to make decisions in the knowledge that we will receive certain
positive reinforcement or punishment for the behaviors associated with those
decisions. An awareness of the way in
which positive reinforcement and punishment shape our lives allows us to
exercise our human consciousness in ways that result in better behaviors.
Only by
accepting the reality of biological and environmental determinants of human
behavior will we erect the mental rubric and establish those modes of thought
necessary to impel us to establish better systems of education and health, beginning
in early childhood and especially at the K-12 level of education, by which we
can attain greater equity in our society across the categories of race, class,
and gender.
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