I've always been taken with the debate between determinism and free will. So many fields of study called upon to answer that one question: Do we have free will? So much hard scientific evidence for brain-mind monism, and only philosophical, deus ex machina type arguments from the other camp. Yet who would be comfortable to say he has no 'conscious' mind. That free will is an illusion.
But I can't do this topic. It's no longer just scientific. It's toooo much for a 3000 word, few week assignment.
So I tried to tweak the focus to something more grounded in science. Can we use genetics to predict a person's future actions? This may or may not be controversial. I'm not sure if it has been resolved. Most models present a deterministic stance, but stochastic causality suggests that when you get right down to it, the neurological interactions in our brains are intrinsically indeterminate. OK, sounds like a lot of physics and math to me. Interesting, but I may not be able to understand a lot of the content, and there may not be enough content. Plus, I believe that as I write, I will somehow direct my writing to the question of free will, and the social impacts of genetic prediction. And thus fail my SUJA.
SO, at long last, I have decided to write about the controversial homosexual gene; Is homosexuality biological or is it a psycho-social effect? Am kind of looking forward to writing this. But there's always the initial mental block, followed by the high, which gets higher nearer the deadline.
But for now, have a wonderful long Hari Raya weekend!
Sarah
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