It is known that the mind is functioning as a dual physiological state: CM) The Conscious Mind (thinking, dreaming, etc.); UM) The Unconscious Mind (elaborating biophysical and biochemical signals). Most people think to decide voluntary actions thanks to free will (FW) existence. However, many evidences show that FW is a CM’s illusion. So, how the progress of human knowledge should keep rising? In accordance with Lock’s “Tabula Rasa”, the learning process rises as a branch of hyperbola, trial after trial; at the beginning of the curve, the responses to a stimulus are based on “trial-&-error”. Though, after each trial, CM will intervene by critically up-loading memory archives with positive experiences, thus favoring the efficiency of further UM’s reactions. On top of the curve, the reactions are automatic and don’t need any further CM’s intervention (see the Bayesian theorem). “The Bignetti Model” (TBM) explains that these processes are the result of the computational mechanism carried out by a probabilistic-deterministic mind. In our daily life, we are engaged in a virtual game conditioned by a reinforcement learning: 

1) UM instinctively reacts against a perturbing stimulus as an Avatar might do in a virtual game. At the beginning of the play, the Avatar must adopt a Trial & error" strategy;

2) Feed-back signals of the reaction will alert CM (I. e. the Player), with hundreds of msecs delay; 

3) By this time, the Player is unaware of the prior decision of the Avatar; though, by embodying with it, he deludes of having freely decided that reaction in place of it (FW illusion); 

4) This illusion triggers the senses of agency and responsibility in the Player. By self-attributing reward or blame, depending on the reaction outcome, the Player will up-to-date LTM archives, according to “operant conditioning”; 

5) LTM updating will favor further Avatar’s reactions, up to the automatism that will not any more require the Player’s intervention. 

In summary, our way of living is irreal but effective; the question is: “Is FW-illusion a genetic heredity or the epigenetic outcome of Darwinian natural selection?

Enrico Bignetti 1949) born in Brescia, Italy. 1974) graduated Doctor in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Parma, Italy. 1977) Professor of Physiology at the University of Parma. 1985) Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Parma. 1987-1998) Director of Veterinary Biochemistry Institute. 2017) retired. Main research topics: 1) vision, olfaction and taste (Guanosine-triphosphate is directly involved in light-excitation of photoreceptors; bell-pepper Odorant-binding protein from nasal mucosa was purified and characterized; the psycho-active effect of Glutamate (Umami taste) was investigated); 2)) biosensor productions and the study of the psycho-active effects of food; 3) Cognition (a new human cognitive model “The Bignetti Model”, based on the role of free-will illusion in cognition was proposed). Work done abroad: Polytechnic of Zurich. University of Oregon, Yale University, Florida State University. Speaker at intl. congresses: Palermo, Italy; Jerusalem, Israel; Agra, India. (Rome, Italy, and New York, USA, will be postponed for Covid19). The last Publication: Bignetti E. (2021) The Limits of Mind and “The Bignetti Model”. New Horizons in Education and Social Studies. Chapter 8, Vol. 9, DOI: 10.9734/bpi/nhess/v9/7239D). Extra-academic activity: Conceptual Artist, Hatha Yoga Teacher and expert of oriental philosophies.