Monday, April 14, 2008
Brain Again
Here we go again - the media and other scientistically inclined elements leap on the latest gobbet of 'evidence' that we are the helpless victims of mechanical processes of which we are entirely unconscious. Yes, our brain makes the decision, not us. Hmmm. Even in the course of this account, the inflated claims as the start are looking pretty sorry by the end, and the man who did the experiment seems to see the weaknesses as clearly as anyone - the fact that the experiment is entirely artificial and unlike life as lived, the unimpressive 60 percent 'prediction' rate, the unexplored possibilities of changing one's mind, the fact that anyway conscious and unconscious will are the same process, and, in the end, the huge uncertainty over what such findings actually tell us. Still, these stories certainly entertain and gratify those who feel the need to believe we are machines. The more interesting question is why anyone should be so desperate to believe such a thing.
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A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
There does seem a peculiar, intense need to believe we are robots, and perhaps future generations will study that need as a historical phenomenon in itself.
ReplyDeleteIt's an oddity that the emancipation from religion led not to a Hamlet-like greatness but to the grubby & disheartening image of humans as apes or robots.
...>we are the helpless victims of mechanical processes of which we are entirely unconscious<
ReplyDelete...which is why I never make a minor decision, without tossing a coin. (For major ones I use Free Will). That the toss of a coin offers liberation from the intrusion of chance into my world is potent to my own imagination. It’s one way to trip up what some would call mechanical processes, or habit, or even fate. It diminishes what others would refer to as Karma - simply because it leaves consciousness out. It may seem far-fetched, but I have a private theory that once your own thought-patterns are excluded, the denial of Karma offers liberation. The trick is, never to renege on the coin. Once you do that, its higher power is defeated.
Admittedly, it’s a dangerous game. Nor would I advise any of you little Schnutz-babies to engage in it without serious contemplation. You’re entering THE MATRIX!
Miss D.
"The more interesting question is why anyone should be so desperate to believe such a thing."
ReplyDeleteNot desperate, perhaps just an observation of the way people behave. We are very sheep like.
"The more interesting question is why anyone should be so desperate to believe such a thing."
ReplyDelete...because they want an excuse for treating other people as machines. As Brian said, stupid AND cruel.