The issue of the mind and the brain raises the question as to whether the mind is simply an idle side-effect of our brain processes or whether the mind can, in some degree, influence behavior.

. Is our mind a separate entity that goes beyond just our brain activity ? Do we truly have a freewill and a "self ", a soul ? Does the question go beyond science into metaphysics ? Is our mind an illusion or is it reality ? How do we define our conscious experience ? What, is the relationship between events in the brain and those in our private, subjective, experiences that together make up our inner conscious life ? . These questions have been controversial as they have larger implications.

In general there are two major viewpoints . One states that events in the brain, operate in accordance with the laws of physics and determine completely our behavior and subjective experiences. The other view states that mental events affect the brain or that our mind may elicit brain events and that the mind is something more . Following the Darwinian model many researchers started looking at ourselves from a strictly "materialistic " viewpoint . Darwin feared the death of his evolution theory because the human brain far exceeded his view of early man. Huxley argued against the notion of 'free will' as an illusion despite its deep embedment in our language and common sense. For them the brain was a machine, like everything else in nature.

They proposed the mind is simply the outworking of product of brain processes (much as digestion is to the stomach ) It is common knowledge that mind is dependent on brain. and no one argues that the brain doesn't condition the mind (for instance, the effects of drug use ), but the issue is whether the brain determines the mind completely .

There is on the other side of the issue some new research which suggests that the mind can influence our brain. Other current neurological research shows the possibility of a non-materialist interpretation of the mind. We also seem to intuitively " know " that we are autonomous beings, not the playthings of our physiology.

A detailed picture of the human brain is slowly emerging the origin of which seems entirely beyond comprehension from a naturalistic point of view, yet there are, still many gaps to be filled concerning the neurological basis even of such fundamental functions as memory or perception. Given the complexity of the problems, this is hardly surprising.

At present there is no conceivable theory which connects the contents of our private phenomenal experience with what, can be observed to occur in our brain. So it is difficult in an empirical way to prove what is by nature subjective. Yet current neurological research does show the possibility of a nonmaterialist interpretation of the mind. . Some see (including this author )the human mind as evidence of Intelligent Design and or a Creator . The brain may truly provide an ultimate design challenge for evolution.

Many would agree that the beautiful complexity of our brain ; the greatest concentration of chemo-neurological order and complexity in the physical universe contrasts sharply with all simplistic attempts to explain it . Our brain remains a frontier of science and philosophy ; we actually know very little about it , but even what is known is overwhelming.