Choice- Spring ‘24

Dear Reader,

In the 1960s, researchers found that before a human makes a spontaneous movement, there is a build up of neural activity (i.e. “readiness potential”) in the brain, sometimes up to 10 seconds before the movement actually happens. Let me clarify. As I seemingly choose to carefully type out these words, a bit of buzzing in my brain has already decided what letters to hit before my fingertips even touch the keyboard. I guess I am also admitting here that the very exercise of writing to you, dear reader, has been a bit spontaneous, but c'est la vie. 

These findings, as you can imagine, threw the concept of free will into turmoil. It appeared that the human brain had been predetermining what the human body would do since, well, the beginnings of humanity. The ability to choose is what separates human from beast, ancient Roman philosopher Cicero thought. 

Modern scientists brought an end to the turmoil. We now know that arbitrary decisions, such as which foot to place down first while walking, generate much more readiness potential than those bigger life decisions, such as whom, or even whether, to marry. Thankfully, those big decisions are not predetermined by the brain. 

The environmental stories our reporters covered this quarter all revolve around choice. The decisions in these articles made by responsible parties or governmental agencies were not arbitrary, and for the people impacted or the environment changed, it does not matter how much readiness potential is building up in their brain. 

The choices people make matter. To you, to me, to the orca whales swimming in the Salish Sea, the tiny snails living in Padilla Bay and the whole host of others included in the following stories. 

We thank you for choosing to read them.

Please share any comments, questions, concerns or corrections with us by emailing planet@wwu.edu

Happy Reading,

Riley Weeks

Editor-in-Chief