Sunday, April 15, 2012

Week Five and Six: Neural Philosophy


Film: Disneyland of Consciousness

I really loved the examples that were used in the video of Abraham Lincoln, the Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion as Animatronic Images. These figures do really seem to trick our eyes to think that they are actual people or things. Often times, these “real life figures” force us to question what it means to be “true and living.”
The odd question that popped into my head as I was watching this short clip was how is it that we believe in these “real life figures” but do not believe in other “intangible” things that are related to religion, or science. This video led me to dwell upon the thought of belief and faith in something unseen and not touched, for example, Jesus Christ. As a believer in Christ, it was weird how some people saw and believed that animatronic images are actually real, but religion, or more specifically, God, is not. Although I do not have a clear cut answer for this complex question, it was very refreshing to just be challenged and questioned about this matter.

Film: Consciousness as a Mobius Strip

When I first read the title, I wanted to first find out what a “Mobius Strip” was before even digging further into the video. As I inaccurately imagined, according to physlink.com, in short, Mobius strip has one side and one edge, being practically endless and incomprehensible.  Without even taking a small peak at the clip, I began to question, “How this is even possible?”
                The video made a very good connection between the Mobius Strip and our consciousness. I really loved the fact that they were correlated as something endless, without a clear, straight answer to how to explain them. It is quite true that it is nearly impossible to dive deeper into our consciousness and define every little detail in it. But I believe that somehow it is quite possible to be able to see a glimpse of our “endless” thoughts and be able to project it with the best of our abilities. Although our language may restrain us from fully explaining our consciousness, I believe that in the future it will be quite possible to through intellectual advances.

Film: Radiance without an Edge

                Wow it really shocked me to realize that we really do not have a beginning and an end in a sense that we will not know when our consciousness starts, or ends. I believe there is an amnesia called the childhood amnesia, often used by psychologists to describe why we do not remember our early childhood years, in most cases until the age of 4. This made me question is there a true reasoning behind why we cannot remember how our consciousness began?
                I failed miserably countless times trying to remember my first memory that the first challenge that was posed in the video made me laugh.  Although seemingly small, I started to consider this a big deal that it is quite impossible to really find our first conscious decision or memory. Also, the fact that when our physical body dies, our consciousness dies at the exact same time really shocked me and made my small brain really work. Thinking about how we will not know what life is after our physical deaths really challenged me to question and think more about consciousness, in a philosophical sense.

Film: A Glorious Piece of Meat

The fact that we really do not know who is in control was refreshing to see. The “I” which is us, do not control anything except our conscious, voluntary actions such as moving and eating. The rest is done by our involuntary organs within our bodies that require no special attention to do its jobs. The fact that we are not completely in control of everything was very interesting.
                There was a short statement that went along the lines of “How is it that when we are clubbed in the back of our head, we are not aware of the outside experiences going on around us?” It was interesting how although we are not conscious all the time, the world still goes on without voluntary actions being done. Quite remarkable to be told that we are not completely in control of everything that we do, but it is actually the unconscious, involuntary thing that run while our other conscious actions are asleep.

Film: Brain Burn

                We tend to imagine and daydream very often during our lifetime to really experience what it feels like to be what we really want to be, without the consequences. It doesn’t even have to be what we want to be, maybe what we want to do, or a small dream that we have. Daydreaming really helps us to be, without actuality.
                “Consciousness is literally a virtual simulator.” This statement was very true because I do simulate my dreams myself, almost every single day. I would imagine doing things that are literally impossible to do in real life because of the circumstances as well as the deathly consequences it follows. By using this virtual simulator implanted in our natural bodies, it helps us to survive without having to face the reality and sometimes would lead us into making the right choices. I would like to end with this quote from the video. “Being within survives, being without tends to end up dead.”

Film: Patricia Churchland Interview

“Are we just molecules in motion? Are we just… stuff?” was the first question imposed in the interview. Patricia Churchland answers by saying, “first of all, it’s not just one individual neuron that does it (falling in love). “ The fact that our whole body is moving and working to even express the feeling of love is a great way to answer the question. The way we are so complex scientifically, as well as philosophically, shows that we are not just “stuff” but complex conscious beings that are unexplainable with just mere language.
                She also states that it is still hard to understand the way neurons are used in consciousness as well as just simply, our conscious mind. Because it is just so complex and nearly impossible to understand with our intellect, as well as with the advances with science that we have today, I thought it would take a while to completely explain how our consciousness functions. Our mind is our brain, and our brain functions and performs countless tasks that we do not even think about. It would take a millennium to be able to truly and deeply understand the very nature of our conscious minds.

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