RE: why do we enjoy poetry From the perspective of neuroscience?
January 22, 2019 at 2:09 am
(This post was last modified: January 22, 2019 at 2:13 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(January 22, 2019 at 2:04 am)Belaqua Wrote: As far as I can tell, you and Thoreauvian believe that increased knowledge of brain activity is likely to explain why electrochemical events in the brain present themselves to the self as qualia.
That's the general supposition of the incremental expansion of knowledge, yeah..sure.
Quote:Other people believe that even if we could make a complete map of brain activity, showing all electrochemical events in every cell and their interaction, this would only tell us about the activity of electrochemical events, and wouldn't show why they present themselves to the self as qualia.
And I'm sure that those same people would tell you that having a complete tech schem of your pc wouldn't explain how it worked, or having a circuit map and readings doesn't explain electricity.
Some People™ believe strange things.
Here's an outside possibility, though, that I amuse myself with. Suppose we did have a complete map of brain activity - but every brains activity was wholly unique to the individual? That the common observations thusfar are only superficial. That we would have to learn a new language for every individual brain - much like the user did. This would be a harder issue to crack than any of the misguided problems bandied about by reference to myths and superstitions regarding mind these past few centuries. Adding further wrinkles, what if this language changed over the users lifetime..so that readings made today would not be informative a decade from now.
I like this one, because what we expect is actually somewhere between a unique custom job, as above...and a factory standard.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
