Free Will and the 'Anarchic Hand'

[Ace Mercury]

In posting another thread, I'm reminded about an interesting psycological phenomenon I read in a Mind Hacks blog entry, which links to this psychology article called "The Anarchic Hand"

Here's some interesting excripts:

One evening we took our patient, Mrs GP, to dinner with her family. We were discussing the implication of her medical condition for her and her relatives, when, out of the blue and much to her dismay, her left hand took some leftover fish-bones and put them into her mouth (Della Sala et al., 1994). A little later, while she was begging it not to embarrass her any more, her mischievous hand grabbed the ice-cream that her brother was licking. Her right hand immediately intervened to put things in place and as a result of the fighting the dessert dropped on the floor. She apologised profusely for this behaviour that she attributed to her hand’s disobedience. Indeed she claimed that her hand had a mind of its own and often did whatever ‘pleased it’.

We have recently assessed a patient, with a bilateral lesion centred on the SMAs, showing overt episodes of utilisation behaviour (Boccardi et al., 2002). For instance, while being tested, he spotted an apple and a knife on a corner of the testing desk. He peeled the apple and ate it. The examiner asked why he was eating the apple. He replied: ‘Well…it was there.’ ‘Are you hungry?’ ‘No. Well, a bit.’ ‘Have you not just finished eating?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Is this apple yours?’ ‘No.’ ‘And whose apple is it?’ ‘Yours, I think.’ ‘So why are you eating it?’ ‘Because it is here.’ On another occasion the experimenter, while adjusting the video-camera, put his wallet on the table. The patient spotted the wallet, started to take out all the credit cards and other things, such as the national insurance number, reading it aloud. The experimenter asked: ‘Whose wallet is it?’ ‘Yours.’ replied the patient, a bit baffled by the question, but carrying on ransacking it. Indeed, his utilisation behaviour was so overt as to become a cause of embarrassment to his wife, and was her major complaint.

Think about a possible scenario that may apply to us all. One Saturday morning while driving towards a holiday site to spend your weekend you cross the usual road to your office. Absentmindedly you may turn and find yourself driving to the office for a while before recognising your error. The environment provided a trigger strong enough for you to initiate an automatic behaviour, which you had to inhibit to go back to your intended plan. This is what often happens to people affected by utilisation behaviour who lack the capacity to inhibit behaviour triggered by the environment. When the actions performed go beyond the simple toying, manipulation and utilisation of an object, they are often referred to as ‘environmental dependency syndrome’ (Lhermitte, 1986).

(I know, I know, tldr)

Basically,

1. How freaky is that?
2. Does this explain why people have a compelling urge to press large, red buttons?
3. How much free will do we really have? Are we just an assembly of habits?

[Princess Zelda of Hyrule]

I have trouble controlling myself when faced with cookies.

[Dr. Horrible]

I've heard it argued that the fact that chemicals are able to influence our decisions is evidence that we don't actually make them.

[Wyborn]

Used to be this was the realm of philosophy!

Also, "Anarchic Hand" is the best, most hilarious name ever.

[CaptHayfever]

^At the very least, it would be a great name for a rock band.

And remember, "I'm-a Dave Barry, number one!"