He who would study organic existence ,
first drives out the soul with sheer persistence ,
then the parts in his hands he may hold and class
but the link with the soul is lost alas
-Goethe
I have a purpose. A picture of self that would not be complete if I do not do this. This is consciousness. The separation of self from the external world. We can create machines that process data, store information but are still so incomplete! They do not have a sense of I. How does this feeling of consciousness emerge from the collection of cells that we call the brain? A lot of research is being done to find an answer to this question. But this is not easy. The author of the Scientific American article Antonio Damasio says: “But declaring defeat even before we make the attempt defies Aristotle’s observation that human beings are infinitely curious about their own self”. Well said!
Go wonderous creature, mount
where Science guides…
a) The “movie-in-the-brain” b) The “self”.
The “movie-in-the-brain” is the sum total of all the sensory experiences we have: the sights+ the sounds + the smells + all that we experience. The self refers to the sense of ownership we give to the “movie-in-the-brain”. This is what I see, this is happening to me etc.
representation of the outside world in which the body’s sole aim is self preservation. So the self is a second order representation of what we must do when we are in the midst of the external stimulus: we must think about ourselves… we must be conscious… we must be aware. The part of
the brain that controls our intelligence is just given a picture of the “self” and that the “self” is the most important thing. So all our intelligence puts the self at the core of our “movie-in-the-brain”. Only the self aware organism has the ability to react to alarm signals from the “movie-in-the-brain”. Evolution demands consciousness! Have we explained the mind? the soul? No! we have just started. Would you like to participate in this quest?
A quest that may last a lifetime… but what a lifetime it would be! Or are you just happy playing with the silly little toys that you have “invented”??!! And you call such childish games creativity??? 🙂 . There was only one moment of Creativity. We humans can just draw His lines after Him. Kanwar |=============================
Go, wondrous creature! mount where Science guides:
Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides:
Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,
Correct old time and regulate the Sun;
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