IUBio

machine brains

Malcolm McMahon malcolm at pigsty.demon.co.uk
Thu Jan 21 10:31:01 EST 1999


On Thu, 21 Jan 1999 08:53:57 -0500, "Ray Scanlon" <rscanlon at wsg.net>
wrote:

>
>First, why soul at all? Because people insist that there is something behind
>the brain. I bow to the vast majority but I do say it is better to use
>"soul" rather than the prissy euphemism "mind".
>

To me the words mind and soul have substantially different meanings. The
mind is the information processor. Intelect and emotion are parts of the
mind.

The soul, to me, is another word for consciousness. The mind is
something we're conscious of.

>Second, soul as observer only. The brain has all the neurons needed to
>perform any action we have ever observed. Since the brain may think and
>decide we may use Occam's dictum to deny causal powers to soul. As to
>understanding how there may be a soul as observer without causal powers, I
>think McGinn has the best argument, our brain lacks the capability to
>understand the relationship between brain and soul.
>
>I would phrase it, "How may the brain speak of consciousness, how may the
>brain speak of soul"? Which neurons are active when the brain images soul? 

But here's the point. If the firing neurons can detect the soul then the
soul _is_ influencing the brain. If the brain can be aware of the soul
in any way then the soul ceases to be a passive observer. And once
you've accepted that the soul can influence the brain why shouldn't you
accept that the mechanism of the will is exactly what we instinctively
believe it to be - that the soul can decide which way the brain jumps.

(Take a look at my essay on http://www.pigsty.demon.co.uk/time.html for
my own notions about this relationship).

Penrose suggests that the relationship between consciousness and mind is
rather like the relationship between a managing directory and his large
company. He has hordes of middle management who put together proposed
business plans etc. with their best projection of the results of their
proposals. They also present him with condensed reports of the state of
the company. The managing directory then choses the plans that are
predicted to produce the results he wants. He doesn't, himself, need any
powers of prediction or planning.




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