RE: why do we enjoy poetry From the perspective of neuroscience?
January 9, 2019 at 5:38 pm
(This post was last modified: January 9, 2019 at 7:16 pm by Belacqua.)
(January 9, 2019 at 1:36 pm)Thoreauvian Wrote:(January 6, 2019 at 6:28 pm)Belaqua Wrote: "Electrochemical events in the brain are perceived by the subject as experiences because it's an emergent property and someday we'll know why that is" is about the same.
No, electrochemical events in the brain are perceived by the subject as experiences because they are happening to the subject's body, to him or her. We won't understand it in the way you prefer because it doesn't reduce to simple explanations. This is implied by emergentism: New properties of a complex arrangement of matter like the human brain cannot be explained by simply examining its components working in isolation. In other words, they don't reduce to mere physics or even to component parts. Thus the orchestra analogy.
To me the orchestra analogy doesn't work because a single note and a symphony are ontologically the same; the difference is complexity. But an electrochemical event and an experience are not, in my view, ontologically the same.
It's true that there are emergent properties in the world that come about due to complexity, but I haven't seen it demonstrated yet that consciousness is one of those things. Some people think it is. If you have some argument for this I will read it.
Quote:You may think you're making me look foolish, but you're making yourself look foolish to me for not understanding what emergentism implies.
It's not my goal to make anyone look foolish, and I don't know why you'd suggest that. Nor do I think I look foolish. This is an ongoing question among people who know a lot more about than you or I.
Quote:You and Bennyboy simply don't agree with them.
We remain unpersuaded by them. We have reasons for that, which are shared by people who know more about it than you or I.
This is not a personal fight. This is how questions get worked out -- by discussion.
