4 ms·

Eating a hamburger helps me grow, but that doesn't mean I am a hamburger. Or, another analogy, if you smash my computer, I won't be able to type this response

• sanxiyn 7y ago
  Brain functions under electromagnetic shielding, so are you proposing some new physical force?
  • yters 7y ago
    I'm proposing the mind is non physical and interacts with the physical brain, analogous to a signal and antenna.
• visarga 7y ago
  > if the brain is an antenna for intelligence And what causes the intelligence that is simply being channeled by such a brain? Is it turtles all the way down? Let me counter your position with another: the brain is that which protects the body and the genes. Essentially it means to find food, safety and make babies. But in order to do that we have evolved society, language, culture and technology. It's still simply a fight for life against entropy. The brain learns what actions lead to best rewards and what actions and situations are dangerous. And if it doesn't, then death acts like a filter and improves the next generation of intelligent agents to make them more attuned to survival. And it all stems from self replication in an environment shared with many other agents and limited resources. You see, my short explanation covers the origin, purpose and evolution of intelligence. The 'brain is an antenna' would work only if you consider the constraints of the environment as the source and the brain as the 'receiver' of signals.
  • yters 7y ago
    Your short explanation is full of unfounded speculation, whereas my even shorter explanation relies entirely on direct evidence everyone has access to. The only reason you feel your explanation gets a pass is because you speculate in the name of materialism, which in itself is an incoherent philosophy.
    • mkl 7y ago
      I'm pretty sure I've never even heard of such evidence, let alone seen any. Philosophy is irrelevant here; what do you propose does the thinking if not the brain? Where is the direct evidence you claim?
      • yters 7y ago
        Consciousness, free will, abstract thought, mathematics. All things that cannot be reduced to matter. All our scientific theories are filtered through all or most of the above, so the above list is much more directly evidenced than anything the sciences say.
        • mkl 7y ago
          What do you propose does the thinking if not the brain? The only one of those things with a concrete definition is mathematics, which we can do with computers in practice or in principle (I am a mathematician). Computers are made of matter.
          • yters 7y ago
            Computers do not do mathematics. Rather, they compute a set of rules we give them, which may or may not be consistent. It is up to the programmer to give them rules that are consistent and correspond to some abstract mathematical concept. However, the computational rules themselves are not mathematics. I am not sure what does the thinking, but whatever it is, it cannot be the brain if thinking consists of uncomputable and non physical faculties.
            • 7y ago
• mlyle 7y ago
  No, but you're made up of the pieces that come from the hamburger. I get that it may be comforting to think that you are, fundamentally, some incorporeal, magical entity both special and immune to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune... but there's no evidence for this.
  • yters 7y ago
    It seems like all the evidence is for this, and on the other hand there is no evidence for the materiality of the mind. The only reason people believe in mind == brain is due to their materialistic fundamentalism, just like the creationists force their theories onto science.