Friday, April 16, 2010
Free Will
Persuasion, the kind that PR uses anyway, depends on free will, the deliberate choice of the listener to accept and act upon a message. That is why a prevailing attitude in neuroscience is disturbing. That attitude is determinism. That is, man is a captive to his neurons. There are scientists who fight that notion but it is an uphill battle as the scientific community delves more deeply into how the brain operates. The concern, of course, is how society will react to the determinists, if their views begin to enter broader culture. "My brain made me do it" will upset the entire web of responsibility that makes society run. This is an issue PR practitioners should track.
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