Some Thoughts On Human Nature and Its Control: I Am My Neighbor and My Neighbor Is Me

The classic controversy of free will versus determinism and its relation to the control of human behavior are discussed in terms of my experience as a Mennonite, as a researcher, as a participant in an alternative lifestyle experiment, and as an explorer of human consciousness. The concept of control as espoused by the behavioral tradition became less clearly discernable as I reflected on changes in my lifestyles and ideals, the relationship between politics and behavior modification, and "the other worlds of non-ordinary reality ". A reference to events beyond our individual efforts-the "enlarge- ment"-is imperative if we are to understand the present frame with any clear focus. Essentially, the notion that one human being controls another, or any aspect of the environment, becomes mcreasmgly meanmgless as the enlargement grows further from the experimental laboratory Moreover, a failure to perceive this may reveal an ego- centrism that is potentially hazardous not only to our interpersonal relationships, but to our ultimate connection with all life