Post by heresanidea on Nov 7, 2017 15:59:54 GMT
The author sets out to show that cognitive science places undue importance on the brain when talking about consciousness.
Written in a very easy to understand language, and includes many everyday examples and perspectives.
He uses two cases -
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistent_vegetative_state
And
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome
As a base and builds on those to produce very convincing thoughts.
I'm still on chapter two and I've learned of following interesting ideas-
fmri and pet might be overrated, they do not record neural activity to the level of granularity that is required to justifiably hold the view the consciousness can be found in a bunch of neurons somewhere. He prefers to see consciousness rather as something we do, like dancing; not something that happens, like digestion.
In chapter two he talks about problem of other minds.
He argues that a question of "whether a person is really conscious" is not something we have a theoretical justification for. Rather, it's something we can't help but take for granted.
As such, when we do feel forced to consider such a question (such as persistent vegetative state or locked in syndrome), it's always moral question.
I would like to recommend this book to any cognitive science enthusiasts like myself and am eager to know your thoughts on this too!
Written in a very easy to understand language, and includes many everyday examples and perspectives.
He uses two cases -
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistent_vegetative_state
And
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome
As a base and builds on those to produce very convincing thoughts.
I'm still on chapter two and I've learned of following interesting ideas-
fmri and pet might be overrated, they do not record neural activity to the level of granularity that is required to justifiably hold the view the consciousness can be found in a bunch of neurons somewhere. He prefers to see consciousness rather as something we do, like dancing; not something that happens, like digestion.
In chapter two he talks about problem of other minds.
He argues that a question of "whether a person is really conscious" is not something we have a theoretical justification for. Rather, it's something we can't help but take for granted.
As such, when we do feel forced to consider such a question (such as persistent vegetative state or locked in syndrome), it's always moral question.
I would like to recommend this book to any cognitive science enthusiasts like myself and am eager to know your thoughts on this too!