Emotions, Desire, Free Will, and a Biblical Unified Model of Human Design
- Apr 16
- 6 min read
Updated: May 6
Written by Timeout Taumua, Award-Winning Author
On behalf of Brainz Magazine, let us introduce, Timeout A. Taumua, a multi-award-winning author of The Magnificence of the 3, an expository book about the scientific nature of the Bible. The book and the author had been dubbed by some prominent editorial reviewers as "a rare work constructed by a rare being" and "a rare book by a rare person".
Emotions and free will are both central to human design, yet both are still debated. Charles Darwin, for example, argued that emotions are innate, while others claim they are learned.[1] The debate over free will is even more divided, and the latest by Professor Robert Sapolsky argues that it may not exist at all.[2]
I am here with a claim, the extension of my previous contribution, that not only are emotions innate, but so is free will.
Biblical framework: From the atom to free will
As proposed in The Magnificence of the 3, emotions were designed after the atom’s particles, making them one of the innate elements of the design, equal to the Tree of Knowledge (neuron), and other biblical tools of creation. We begin with a predesigned foundational structure of biblical free will, a byproduct of the structural forces of creation, positive, negative, and neutral.
According to modern physics, matter originates from fundamental particles, protons (positive), electrons (negative), and neutrons (neutral), which form the structure of the atom.
It is my claim that God first designed the Atom, in His Image and Likeness, then used the atom to design Adam with, Genesis 1:26 (NKJV).
God next redesigned the atom’s particles to perform the same essential role for Adam as they do for the atom’s survival and transformed them into positive and negative emotions.
God recorded the transfer, immediately after Adam was created, with this confusing and unresolved parable:
“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them”. Genesis 1:27 (NKJV) (emphasis original).
The “male” and “female” were made-simple identities given to the redesign of the atom’s particles, the opposite attract positive and negative emotions.
God next decided to create a “helper” for Adam, and He added skin and bones to emotions, and Eve was the manifestation of the helper. Genesis 2:18 (NKJV).
Our scholars, coincidentally, without any influence from the scriptures, not only group emotions into positive and negative counterparts, but also refer to emotions as our ‘helpers’ for survival purposes.
This Image and Likenesses of God that Adam was created with were then revealed by the snake to Eve, a God (neutron) who knew good (positive) and evil (negative). Genesis 3:5 (NKJV).
But if emotions mirror atomic structure, where is their “neutron,” the neutral counterpart?
The innate structure of emotional systems
This was where the “desire” of Genesis entered the framework. Within this model, desire is proposed as the counterpart to the “neutron,” the regulating force within the emotional system.
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." Genesis 3:6 (NKJV)
The unnecessary presence of desire in the story was more than an incidental detail. While often excluded from basic emotion categories, desire is widely recognized in motivation science as a primary driver of behavior.[3] Nobel Prize Winner Bertrand Russel similarly claimed that all human activity is prompted by desire. It is my claim that “desire” is the redesign of the atom’s neutron.
God included desire in the disobedient story to link two “helpers”: Eve, the manifestation of emotions, and the biblical helper/mother of mankind, with desire, the spiritual/scientific helper, and meant to be the mother of emotions.
Determinism: Are we controlled by biology?
Behavioral genetics indicates that 30-60% of personality traits are heritable[4] and epigenetics shows that environmental influences can affect gene expression across generations.[5] From this perspective, scholars like Robert Sapolsky argue that behavior is largely predetermined, leaving little room for free will.[2]
If biology strongly determines behavior, then Sapolsky and others are correct. Emotional responses and decisions could be the result of prior genetic and environmental causes rather than independent choice.
Neuroplasticity vs. Determinism
However, scholars overlook the accepted fact that the brain has the ability to reorganize itself through neuroplasticity.[6] According to research, neural pathways are formed, strengthened, or removed based on experience, through the brain’s synaptic pruning process.[7] This shows that we are not fully bound by inherited traits, as neural connections can be removed as a result of new environmental experiences.
The Bible offers the earliest recorded account of this phenomenon. In Genesis 2:25 (NKJV), Adam and Eve were first living unashamed, naked like animals, but after eating the forbidden fruit, they became aware and covered themselves in Genesis 3:7 (NKJV). This shift was meant to illustrate a neurological change, specifically, the first depiction of neuroplasticity or synaptic pruning. This is an example of the scientific nature of the parabolic stories.
Given that behind every human action is an emotion, it follows that ‘desire,’ the emotion driving neurological changes, was included in the parable to preserve the identity of the helper in Eve’s decision.
Desire as the catalyst for transformation
The biblical model proposes that desire initiates neuroplasticity. Eve’s decision to pursue knowledge reflects desire as a motivating force behind behavioral change. This interpretation aligns with motivation theories, which emphasize internally driven goals as necessary for sustained transformation.[8] Eve’s motivation was to develop the brain with knowledge, to be like God.
Walk into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, for example, and you are observing free will in practice, individual desire confronting inherited and environmentally developed traits, engaging the brain’s synaptic pruning tool, to restructure behavior to improve survival.
While the brain was designed to preserve memory and inherited traits, it was equally designed with a tool to eliminate what is no longer useful and rewire itself for survival. Desire is the tool that makes this transformation possible, bridging inherited biology and adaptive change, first projected by the involvement of ‘desire’ in Eve’s decision in Genesis. It is the mechanism through which change occurs. The desire to be like God led to modern neurological development that some claim to be a byproduct of natural evolution. How, and who taught the first living organism that eating means survival? Look to the atom for the answer.
Free will and human distinction
In this framework, free will is an inherent design, enabled by the capacity of desire to redirect behavior through internally generated motivation consistent with compatibilist theory.[9] This capacity distinguishes humans from purely instinct-driven organisms. Symbolically, this transition was preserved in Genesis, where awareness and choice emerge together, representing a shift toward self-directed action.
Conclusion
Emotions are structured, in imitation of the atom’s three-particle design. At the center of this system is “desire”, which:
Initiates action.
Directs emotional processes.
Enables behavioral change that restructures the brain.
Although the brain largely runs automatically, understanding its biblical design matters. Its fundamental design begins in gestation as the brain splits into three sections, reflecting “the magnificence of three” pattern, also seen in emotional structure and the atom’s design. The drive to survive leads to behavioral change, and desire acts as the neuron to restrain or activate an emotion the host prefers in restructuring the brain. Emotions drive action, but desire determines which emotion is activated.
Processes like ‘electron capture’ show how atoms can transform one element into a different one, an analogy to change that resembles free will.
If atoms can transform themselves through their electron capture, then so can man, who shares their blueprint.[10] To understand free will, we must begin with the atom’s design.
For further discussion related to emotions, get a copy of The Magnificence of the 3, available online. However, this discussion, specifically about “freewill”, was not included as it crossed my path after the release. Blessings.
Read more from Timeout Taumua
Timeout Taumua, Award-Winning Author
Timeout decided to join our community to share the scientific meaning of biblical stories that God revealed to him, such as the identities of the Ark of the Covenant, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge, the Tree of Life, and others, including parabolic tales depicting the splitting of the atom. In light of the 25 book awards and the nature of our community, these discoveries should be of interest to some of us, if not all.
References:
[1] (Barrett, 2017)
[2] (Sapolsky, 2023)
[5] (Meaney, 2010)
[8] (Deci & Ryan, 2000)
[10] (Science Facts)
