The Brain=Mind Fallacy

[Neo-Scholastic]

I prefer a simplier analogy, the brain is the hardware, the mind is the software.

All forms of software are algorithmic You must prove that brain processing is algorithmic to justify this assertion.

...We can map and see different emotions, reactions, mind statuses, with devices capable of measuring electrical currents on the brain, or chemical coumpound presence..We have many documented brain injuries with dire effects on who the individual is, and we are able to pinpoint what those injuries in that specific point of the brain do...We are able to drastically change people personalities and behaviour by adding a chemical (AKA Drugs). The same with electroshocks

I do not deny that physical changes to the brain can alter how we experience reality. Physical changes to the brain like trauma and drug use effect our ability to have certain feelings and thoughts.That does not bridge the generalgap between physical process and the experence of it. The distinction I make is between the abilities, described in terms of physics, and subjective experiences, described in qualitative terms. Functions, behaviors and observable facts are not feelings. Functions describe the operations of a physical process not the phenomenal content of the physical process. These are two very clear and distinct forms of knowledge.The felt quality of experience cannot be deduced from any physical or functional description of it. You can know all the physical and functional facts about a certain type of experience and still not “know what it's like” to have it.

For example, you can know everything physical about vinegar, from its chemical composition to the exact electro-chemical changes is causes in the brain, and still not know what vinegar smells like. The smell of vinegar cannot be predicted or described physically unless it has already been experienced. Another example, you have never tasted a pineapple. You know everything about pineapples, its chemical compositions, how others describe its taste, and you observed the MRIs of people eating them. You can know all this and still not know what a pineapple tastes like. There is a clear distinction between physical events and the experiencial content of those events.

The fact that two people act the same does not mean they feel the same, given that radically different physical systems can produce similar behaviour. For example, if you played a game of chess by mail you could not know if the game you played was against a program or against another player. A chess program and a chess player are functionally equivilent yet have a have a different physical basis. Brain functions, like those that allow humans to play chess, are not dependent on a unique physical basis, like the human brain, or the experiencial content of that event (since presumablly chess programs and human players do not have similar subjective experiences).

Now Chad, present your evidence, so we can test it or shut the fuck up.

It's your job, not mine, to justify the belief that mental phenomena do not exist at lower levels (light bulbs) and pops into existence at higher levels (brains).