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Do Martians See Red? (Self and Consciousness) (the author investigates and…
Do Martians See Red? (Self and Consciousness)
self
is always considered as a metaphysical problem
Thanks to advancement in our understanding of neuroscience, now it is ripe for scientific enquiries
Author hypothesises that conciousness emerge from very specific circuits in our brain
consciousness comprises of
qualia
and
self
qualia
raw feel of sensation
a color-blind person cannot experience
redness
responsible for distinction between first-person and third-person account
this different yet complementary experience creates a metaphysical gap
this subjectivity of experiences makes philosophers render epistemology incomplete
but the author argues the barrier to translation is the
language
human language is incapable translating neuronal patterns
if we replicate or sync these neuronal patterns between us, maybe we could communicate our
experiences
directly
Qualia experiences are a function of temporal and spatial neuronal patterns
the mystery of how electric currents in a jelly gets transmuted to a fabric of subjective sensations and feelings
self
Rather than elusive phenomenas, these might just emerge of neuronal activities
some considers considers consciousness to be an epiphenomena
Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental events are caused by physical events in the brain, but have no effects upon any physical events.
a shadow of the horse does not
causally
affect how it runs
Could it be that consciousness is just a side effect and it plays no causal role
Could we have been zombies and still perform all human functions
The idea can be refuted by enquiring why consciousness was selected for by evolution
How does consciousness informs human experience?
We need to find a way to identify
qualia
laden behaviors
An experience enriched or facilitated by qualia must obey the
three laws of qualia
stable, finite,
irrevocable
representation
this is our perception which cannot be altered or we can
not
pretend about
this is distinct from conception,
i think there is a cat hidden under the sofa because I can see a tail wagging
although we cannot view the wallpaper of the room behind ust
We can
conceive
that the wallpaper extends behind us too
Filling in blind spot in our eyes will be such a perception
we can not alter it
Potentially infinite implications or choices
Short-term memory to arrive at a choice
these laws can be used to rule certain behaviour of animals, evens function carried out by our organs
does the bee waggle dance involves consciousness?
What would be the seat of consciousness?
The author has already hypothesised cosciousness is not a diffused phenomena
Many believe frontal lobe is associated with conciousness
But pathologies and accidents have shown they mostly affect personality, not consciousness
Temporal lobe and associated limbic structures seems to affect consciousness the most
These structures assign significance to things,
which is vital to consciousness
They are also responsible for intermediate stages
between initial perception and the final motor actions, where conscious choices are made
the author investigates and likens qualia to be
a manifestation from our brain circuits
Under the radar of neuroscience, we find qualia to be
not
an insurmountable barrier to communication of human experiences
But what about
self
?
Self and qualia looks like two sides of the same coin
Our
subjective
feelings is what makes us
So, can self be described
completely
by the
workings of a physical brain
a good way to answer this might be look at
different aspects of self and think about brain
circuits responsible
The embodied self
The idea that our self is confined within
our body is an illusion supported by representation
of
body-image
in our brain
damages to parietal lobes gives us
a peek into this persistent illusion
we might feel pain in non existent arms
with clever experiments we can
perceive our arms are extended on the
table beyond natural length
The passionate self
Neurological case diaries tells stories where
our personality and emotional centre can all
be a manifestation of our frontal
and temporal lobes circuitry
temporal lobe seizures in a person
might make him feel every other object
around him to be profound and filled
with significance
The executive self
conscious awareness has been described
as
condiitional reainess
to act
This implies
free will
is necessary for a self
free will
needs a representation of the world
around us and our self in it
this representation of our self in our head depends on
embodied self, the body image map
patients suffering from
somatoparaphrenia
thinks their
left part of the body belongs to their sibling
hence they cannot order it to do anything
this strongly hints
identification
with our body,
there by the perception of control might
just be a convention, albeit a strong one
patients with damages to
cingulate gyrus
suffer from
akinteic mutism
they are completely aware of
their surrounding but cannot act on anything
The mnemonic self
we need a narrative for persistence
of self over time
this is achieved by our autobiographical memory
supported by our hippocampus
removal of our hippocampus will freeze our existence
sometimes we have two inconsistent narratives
to express ourselves
this might introduce schizophrenia in a person
our narratives includes our belief and opinions
and we keep coming back to them and assert them
to maintain a coherent story of our selves
The unified self
qualia laden experiences like filling in of
blind spots might make us feel self has an
active presence
in our brain
But we may argue these mechanisms have evolved
to make the process of decision more efficient
we can do away with the
ghost in a machine
The vigilant self
a self's motivation to act can be traced back to circuits made
by the brain steam, anterior cingulate gyrus and the limbic structures
so consciousness and the free will which emerges from it
may be a function of motivation which emerges from physical matter in the brain
The conceptual and social self
self is alike other abstract concepts
like happiness and love
But it must have access to lower brain functionalities
self must be situated in context of free will
think of raising your finger to ask
representation of self in our autobiographical memories
to tell a coherent story of our life
this coherence might be a backbone system
to help us make deliberate choices
this in turn help an individual to exhibit a stable behavior
this is very important for socities
" Acknowledging and taking credit or blame for things we did in the past help society incorporate us in its plans"
"So here is the greatest irony of all: that the self almost by definition is entirely private is to a significant extent a social construct – a story you make up for others."
self lends us coherence and represents us as a
single unit through time and space