Did you choose your genetic
composition? The way you look, how tall you are, what your talents and
limitations are, how your voice sounds, and what your character traits are? A
large part of this is genetically determined. Did you choose to be born in this
country, in this culture, with these parents, in this family and in this
neighbourhood? All of these elements have had a big influence on how you
currently think, act, and view the world. Besides that, your environment, your
education, your experiences, and your genetic programming make you into what
you are today. Moreover, 99.999995% of everything we do is taking place at a
subconscious level. You are only 0.000005% aware of what is actually happening.
In other words, if there is a thing such as 'a free will' in our brains, it
would be minimal, because our behaviour is predominantly determined by elements
over which we have no control whatsoever.
Elements such as culture,
environment, social status, media, colleagues, your partner, friends and
family, your function at work, and mirror neurons also have an influence on how
you behave. On top of all of that, the season, the weather, the food we eat, and
economic crisis can also affect our behaviour.
Chauffeur
of Your Body
It seems like you are your own
chauffeur, like your body is a car and you are sitting behind the wheel.
However, it is not easy to control the body due to its limitations. Sometimes
it falls ill, sometimes it gets tired, and sometimes it gets excited. The body
also needs to go to the restroom, needs food, and needs to drink every single
day. The body also has a certain appearance to take into account. If the body
is too heavy, you might try to lose weight; if you are beautiful, you may go
crazy from the stares and attention, and if the body is tiny, you might do your
best to steer clear of arguments with larger people.
It isn't easy to drive this
thing! And no matter how hard you try to get the vehicle in a certain
direction, it hardly ever does what you want it to. It’s the same thing as
those cars on the tracks in amusement parks; there is a wheel in the car that
you can turn, but the car will automatically continue on its already predetermined
path.
The idea that you are driving the
car is an illusion!
Neuroscience
Neuroscientists have discovered
that our declarations and ideas about why we do something are only thoughts
that pop up after the action has already occurred, the words have already been
spoken, or the choice has already been made. Our brain is playing a trick on
us! First, there is unconscious brain activity, then an action, and a split
second later, a new thought arises to make up a story about the action that
just took place.
In your deepest sleep, self‐awareness is turned
off, so ‘you’ are not there to control anything. You sleep for hours while your
body functions automatically. It moves, it breathes, digestion continues, and
cells replace themselves. This all happens without ‘you’ steering the wheel and
being in control. When you wake up, self‐awareness turns back on and instantly,
the idea that you are somewhere inside the body steering the wheel is created.
In a humorous presentation Paul Smit point to several
ways of how to look at human behaviour.