Consciousness and Free Will
'Who am I?' is the ultimate question.  Unfortunately the answer isn't as simple as 42.  In the 20th century it morphed into it's modern form: 'What is consciousness?' Neuroscience is making huge strides in the last 10 years, and while it's a long way yet from answering this question, like a sculptor chipping away at a block of marble, it is telling us more and more about where it isn't, and in particular the parts of the brain that it is dependent on.  Studying patients with brain injuries tells us that it isn't the ability to control our environment, as some patients in a vegetative state have revealed they are conscious.  Yet having free choice is an important aspect of feeling alive, of being 'me'.  I'm hoping that the novel I'm writing gets to the heart of some of these complex questions by exploring the implications of discovering how changing the circuitry of our brains might be exploited, and abused.