Why Intellectual Freedom Matters

Although intellectual freedom is treated in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Article 19) as a human right, some people still argue that it is a luxury or even a ‘complete and utter irrelevance ’ when compared to basic human needs such as those for food, shelter, education and health. In response to this, there is actually a case for saying that freedom of expression and freedom of access to information perform a basic function that is as significant as any other response to fundamental human need. The evidence of neurophysiology suggests that human brain function develops from the earliest stages of infancy in response to external stimuli rather than exclusively to some genetically programmed sequence of growth. In the absence of stimuli not only is the brain’s initial development inhibited, but it may never develop fully even if later provided with a full flow of sensory data. The brain has been described as a ‘plastic’, or mouldable, organ in which various areas although essentially dedicated to a particular mental function can adapt and change according to need. It is the flow of data into the brain that demands and triggers suc