- 28 Jul 2005
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- 169
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Here I sit, in this body of mine--the extension of myself--weighing in at just around 1 kilogram (2.2046 pounds) up and running on drugs, (which I guess we can say are what all chemical substances can be called) charged with internal electrical circuitry, and explaining myself through this means; and yet wondering:
The brain. Don't leave home without it--which I sometimes tend to do? As far as we can understand at the moment, this is it. The philosophers of old were mistaken due to lack of knowledge, experience, and study--thinking was not a function of our hearts or lungs. Descartes had been mistaken in seing the pineal gland as being the seat of higher thought--the soul.
We can far more clearly see at the moment that what we are as regards cognitive function and mental disposition (beyond genetics) is the brain itself. But what about the idea of 'soul'--some invisible essense which from (and due to) ancient times had been seen as our cognitive function? Is that the penile gland? Is it the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as the Greek physician Galen (129-199 CE) had thought?
Obviously, as the evidence continues to come in, even, we can see that the notion of anything beyond the mere material that the brain is, as being the conscious, aware, and operative function of mind, is a false one. There most evidently is no 'soul' or 'spirit' as the old religio-philosophical thinkers of old would have had us believe. We are the brain. . . we are the neurons.
With this OP, I open this explanation and discussion/informal debate on the matter of what the brain is. The areas that this touches on and has relevancy to are those of soul, spirit (as usually used in religious belief-systems; also see Ghost Stories Thread) (im)mortality, reincarnation, and, among others, the general scientific fields.
My first presentations (soon to come) will more so be about neurology and brain function that provides evidence for the conclusion I am arguing for.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: The Human Brain-A Guided Tour by Susan Greenfield, 1997; The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, 2007; The Blank Slate-The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker, 2002; Dreaming Reality-How Dreaming Keeps Us Sane, or Can Drive Us Mad by Joe Griffin & Ivan Tyrrell, 2004; The Science of Good & Evil--Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule by Michael Shermer, 2004; Scientific American related issues (on going); Science related issues (on going); Nature related issues (on going); NewScientist related issues; Sceptic related issues (on going); Psychology Today related issues; and other sources as they come up. I will usually identify them individually when the need for such is felt to be important.
With even the some 100 billion neurons that I consist of, I cannot remember the 9,000 books by heart that Kim Peek has. I am not able to sculpt to 95% accuracy an animal that I have just seen for the first time on TV within a 20 minute time frame of having seen it, as Alonzo Clemons can.
But I can close almost all my whole brain down for repairs (sleep) and still be awakened by an alarm clock--basically meaning I can be very much unaware of even existing, and then pull out of that state. I can 'see' by creative process, an entity that does not exist and which I have never gotten signals from my physical eyes about. Most of all, maybe, I can sit in here and comtemplate myself comtemplating how others think and feel--something which we humans have an advantage in over all other animals.
I am so strong as to be able to work around faults due to damage--such as a greatly paralyzed brain remaps itself to make up for lost functions--yet so weak that even a cup of good strong coffee will throw me into a rush that I would otherwise not have wanted to bring on. Well, no...I am not being fully honest here, now am I? ok, I will open up and face the facts. Yes, I actually had been craving that cup of coffee. I have built a positive feedback in my pleasure-reward system that kicks in a desire for that 'rush.'
But I can close almost all my whole brain down for repairs (sleep) and still be awakened by an alarm clock--basically meaning I can be very much unaware of even existing, and then pull out of that state. I can 'see' by creative process, an entity that does not exist and which I have never gotten signals from my physical eyes about. Most of all, maybe, I can sit in here and comtemplate myself comtemplating how others think and feel--something which we humans have an advantage in over all other animals.
I am so strong as to be able to work around faults due to damage--such as a greatly paralyzed brain remaps itself to make up for lost functions--yet so weak that even a cup of good strong coffee will throw me into a rush that I would otherwise not have wanted to bring on. Well, no...I am not being fully honest here, now am I? ok, I will open up and face the facts. Yes, I actually had been craving that cup of coffee. I have built a positive feedback in my pleasure-reward system that kicks in a desire for that 'rush.'
The brain. Don't leave home without it--which I sometimes tend to do? As far as we can understand at the moment, this is it. The philosophers of old were mistaken due to lack of knowledge, experience, and study--thinking was not a function of our hearts or lungs. Descartes had been mistaken in seing the pineal gland as being the seat of higher thought--the soul.
We can far more clearly see at the moment that what we are as regards cognitive function and mental disposition (beyond genetics) is the brain itself. But what about the idea of 'soul'--some invisible essense which from (and due to) ancient times had been seen as our cognitive function? Is that the penile gland? Is it the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as the Greek physician Galen (129-199 CE) had thought?
Obviously, as the evidence continues to come in, even, we can see that the notion of anything beyond the mere material that the brain is, as being the conscious, aware, and operative function of mind, is a false one. There most evidently is no 'soul' or 'spirit' as the old religio-philosophical thinkers of old would have had us believe. We are the brain. . . we are the neurons.
With this OP, I open this explanation and discussion/informal debate on the matter of what the brain is. The areas that this touches on and has relevancy to are those of soul, spirit (as usually used in religious belief-systems; also see Ghost Stories Thread) (im)mortality, reincarnation, and, among others, the general scientific fields.
My first presentations (soon to come) will more so be about neurology and brain function that provides evidence for the conclusion I am arguing for.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: The Human Brain-A Guided Tour by Susan Greenfield, 1997; The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, 2007; The Blank Slate-The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker, 2002; Dreaming Reality-How Dreaming Keeps Us Sane, or Can Drive Us Mad by Joe Griffin & Ivan Tyrrell, 2004; The Science of Good & Evil--Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule by Michael Shermer, 2004; Scientific American related issues (on going); Science related issues (on going); Nature related issues (on going); NewScientist related issues; Sceptic related issues (on going); Psychology Today related issues; and other sources as they come up. I will usually identify them individually when the need for such is felt to be important.
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