We, Robots?

As we have mentioned several times in class discussions, Chief Bromden seems quite fond of comparing the patients in the ward to machines, perhaps suggesting that these patients have little control over their lives.  However, we often ignore that Bromden also makes these comparisons for the Big Nurse.  He observes at one point that she "works the hinges in her elbows and fingers" (96).  So Bromden seems to be extending this mechanical imagery to others.  This gives this imagery a different meaning - the machinery now represents all of modern society, as it is unnatural and suppresses individuality.  At first, the idea that humans are almost entirely devoid of free will seems ridiculous.  Just a few days ago, though, I read an article about using electrical impulses to stimulate certain areas of the brain, moving the subjects appendages.  The subject could not prevent themselves from moving - they were completely helpless to resist these involuntary movements.  The researcher conducting the experiment concluded that free will may not exist in the traditional sense.  As humans, we do not truly have control over our own bodies - all of our decisions and actions are a series of biochemical reactions in our brains.  Even our thoughts are primarily controlled by our subconscious - one researcher described the relationship as the conscious mind (your thoughts that you recognize) being a monkey riding a tiger of subconscious decisions and actions in progress, frantically making up stories about being in control.  Free will can still exist, but not in the sense that most of us imagine it - it is more of a perception, not a power or a driving force.  People still experience free will and sense that they are free, but they never truly act upon this free will.  They act upon the biochemical reactions in the brain, the subconscious desires that they possess.

So perhaps Bromden is closer to the truth than we initially thought.  To Bromden, "The Combine" represents society, which has sapped the individuality and natural impulses out of humankind.  Perhaps in real life, though, "The Combine" would be God (or Allah, or Buddha, or the natural selection which drives evolution, etc.) - whatever or whoever designed human behavior and cognition to be just a series of neurotransmitters and synapses.  Both Bromden's society and our all-powerful being (or evolution, if that is your cup of tea) transform humans into machines of sorts, with no real free will.  This can be either comforting or depressing, depending on your perspective.  What is certainly means is that Bromden is right - the patients in his ward have no individuality or natural instincts.  One question remains, though - do they lack free will due to society's influence on them, or because no human can possess true free will?