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GlennMacGrady
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
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 Posted: 10/06/16 3:06 pm ::: Consciousness, mind and brain |
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| Do you think human consciousness and mind reside in the brain, and if so, only in the brain? |
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Howee
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| Posted: 10/12/16 11:03 pm ::: |
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| No.
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tfan
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| Posted: 10/13/16 12:57 am ::: |
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| Yes.
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pilight
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| Posted: 10/13/16 6:57 am ::: |
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| Maybe.
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norwester
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| Posted: 10/14/16 5:20 pm ::: |
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| Partially.
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Howee
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| Posted: 10/14/16 11:54 pm ::: |
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| circumstantially.
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GlennMacGrady
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| Posted: 10/18/16 6:51 pm ::: |
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Scientists have been less terse.
Aristotle in De Anima (350 B.C.):
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Thus that in the soul which is called mind (by mind I mean that whereby the soul thinks and judges) is, before it thinks, not actually any real thing. For this reason it cannot reasonably be regarded as blended with the body . . . . |
Descarte (the “Father of Modern Philosophy”) in his Sixth Meditation (1641):
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| It is true that I may have...a body that is very closely joined to me. But nevertheless, on the one hand I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in so far as I am simply a thinking, non-extended thing; and on the other hand, I have a distinct idea of body, in so far as this is simply an extended, non-thinking thing. And accordingly, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body, and can exist without it. |
Max Planck (originator of quantum theory; Nobel Prize in Physics, 1918):
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| I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness. |
Albert Einstein (originator of relativity theory; Nobel Prize in Physics, 1921):
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| No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. |
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| The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it Intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why. |
Eugene Wigner (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963):
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| physics will have to be replaced by new laws, based on new concepts, if organisms with consciousness are to be described in order to deal with the phenomenon of life, the laws of physics will have to be changed, not only reinterpreted |
Sir Roger Penrose, perhaps the greatest living mathematical physicist, in The Man Who Fell to Earth (2003):
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| To understand consciousness demands a major revolution in physics. There is something very fundamental missing from current science. Our understanding at this time is not adequate and we’re going to have to move to new regions of science. |
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mercfan3
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| Posted: 10/18/16 7:20 pm ::: |
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| yes.
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GlennMacGrady
Joined: 03 Jan 2005
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| Posted: 10/19/16 1:03 am ::: |
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Tangent: Penrose triangle, Penrose staircase and Penrose tilings.
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Howee
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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| Posted: 10/19/16 11:06 am ::: |
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| GlennMacGrady wrote: |
| Scientists have been less terse. |
Well....your original question is a "yes/no" question, right? 
My opinion is that the human brain IS the 'home base' for our consciousness and mind, but it is not the ONLY place where they can exist. This thinking is guided by the many personal accounts of people who have left their bodies, maintaining consciousness and mindful perspectives. Whether it's been from a near-death experience, or astral projection, these folks perceive (usually in heightened ways) the things around them, including their own bodies (with brain intact).
IMO, our bodies are merely the vehicles our minds and conscious selves utilize while existing in this plane of dross materialism, and the brain is 'headquarters'. Upon death, the mind and consciousness persists.
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GlennMacGrady
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| Posted: 10/19/16 12:50 pm ::: |
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| Howee wrote: |
| the many personal accounts of people who have left their bodies, maintaining consciousness and mindful perspectives. |
I experienced this when I was about 30 and learned upon coming home that my beloved dog had been killed by a car. I was in a small bedroom consumed with grief. I felt my mind leave my body and hover "in the air" several feet away from myself near the ceiling and looking down upon myself. I looked down upon my grieving self on the other side of the room as if I was watching a movie or a holographic projection of myself. This phenomenon lasted about 20 seconds and, as a science-oriented person, I was very conscious that this was incredible and that I should be skeptical that it was really happening. But it was happening. I could look around the room and see myself in three dimensions crying on the other side of the room.
Shortly afterward, I said to myself that I now understand the meaning of "being beside yourself with grief."
Decades later, when I became interested in mind-body duality, this experience, never again repeated, has had a continuing impact on my thinking about the issue.
| Howee wrote: |
| IMO, our bodies are merely the vehicles our minds and conscious selves utilize while existing in this plane of dross materialism, and the brain is 'headquarters'. Upon death, the mind and consciousness persists. |
That's generally what I currently believe, although I don't think mind and consciousness necessarily persist for everyone. |
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norwester
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
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| Posted: 10/19/16 2:04 pm ::: |
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| GlennMacGrady wrote: |
| Howee wrote: |
| IMO, our bodies are merely the vehicles our minds and conscious selves utilize while existing in this plane of dross materialism, and the brain is 'headquarters'. Upon death, the mind and consciousness persists. |
That's generally what I currently believe, although I don't think mind and consciousness necessarily persist for everyone. |
I think this is closest to my current thinking. But, while the brain likes to believe that its totally in the driver's seat, I think that "consciousness" extends to other parts of our bodies, or at least it can.
I know a lot of people are excited by there being "brain cells" in the heart (or I guess the GI tract?). Neuroscientists might scoff and say that it's just the autonomic nervous system--not "brain", just neurons--but, there are also people who have trained themselves to do remarkable things by spreading their consciousness through their bodies, things that "science" might say are not possible. Not just religious folks, but martial artists, etc.
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Howee
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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| Posted: 10/21/16 12:39 am ::: |
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| norwester wrote: |
| GlennMacGrady wrote: |
| Howee wrote: |
| IMO, our bodies are merely the vehicles our minds and conscious selves utilize while existing in this plane of dross materialism, and the brain is 'headquarters'. Upon death, the mind and consciousness persists. |
That's generally what I currently believe, although I don't think mind and consciousness necessarily persist for everyone. |
I think this is closest to my current thinking. But, while the brain likes to believe that its totally in the driver's seat, I think that "consciousness" extends to other parts of our bodies, or at least it can.
I know a lot of people are excited by there being "brain cells" in the heart (or I guess the GI tract?). Neuroscientists might scoff and say that it's just the autonomic nervous system--not "brain", just neurons--but, there are also people who have trained themselves to do remarkable things by spreading their consciousness through their bodies, things that "science" might say are not possible. Not just religious folks, but martial artists, etc. |
Yes, these new perspectives on consciousness are gaining in popularity and acceptance. I believe things such as reiki and other energy healings may be evidence of this concept.
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