The Science and Metaphysics of Addiction and Recovery

Neuroscientist Benjamin Libet set much of the research agenda for researchers of consciousness following his groundbreaking experiment that seem to show that the brain decided on a course of action before the epiphenomenon of consciousness reported the action. For example, walking in a field upon hearing a rustle in the grass a person may instinctively jump aside. Later offering a reason for the behavior the person may say, I thought there was a snake in the grass. The brain received data, made a decision and set the body into motion before and apart from any willful reflection. Libet’s experiments and those who followed his line of thinking [1,2] became increasingly convinced that person engagement with the external world is always governed by physical laws of neurophysiology. In the case of addiction or recovery all is determined by the brain interacting unconsciously with the surrounds.