The Reflex of Freedom

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist awarded the Nobel Prize. His research on conditioned reflexes significantly influenced various fields of science, such as psychology, linguistics, cybernetics, and others.

The book collects various works by Academician Pavlov, including those that were banned for ideological reasons both during his lifetime and before the fall of the USSR.

In one of his works, he wrote: “The reflex of freedom is one of the most important natural reflexes. Without it, any obstacle in an animal’s path would lead to a complete stop of its life activity. We know how animals deprived of freedom strive for liberation.”

Thus, Pavlov believed that despite their reason, people still retain their animal instincts.