FATALISM OR FREEDOM 



tion we call the act a choice. The choice 

 Is causally determined as truly as is the 

 reflex; but there is nevertheless a world 

 of difference between the two acts. A de- 

 liberate choice In view of possible future 

 contingencies requires an enormously more 

 complex nervous organization than does 

 the reflex; this organization is chiefly in 

 the cerebral cortex, and its grade of elabo- 

 ration marks the chief difference between 

 man and brute. The human cerebral cor- 

 tex is more than twice as large as that of 

 an ape of equal body weight. 



The cerebral cortex is the chief organ 

 of human control, Is the most distinctive 

 structural peculiarity of the genus Homo 

 and unquestionably the most intricate, the 

 most marvelous, and the most mysterious 

 mechanism on our planet. Nevertheless, 

 we can view this amazing organ biologi- 

 cally only as mechanism In action. Its 

 regulatory control over conduct is undoubt- 

 edly knit Into the total organization of 

 our being in lawful patterns. 



The most characteristic functions of the 

 human cerebral cortex are thinking and 

 the other acts of our conscious life. Bio- 

 logically considered, these are functions 

 of definite organs. There is no escape 



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