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We do have several consciousnesses in our head, which end up acting as a collective and then the left brain interpreter post-rationalizes the behavior as if a s

by Joeri 6y ago

We do have several consciousnesses in our head, which end up acting as a collective and then the left brain interpreter post-rationalizes the behavior as if a single mind is at work. That’s why we act against our own decisions so often. You can see this demonstrated with people with split brain syndrome, where the brain halves are unable to directly communicate and you can trick them out by confronting the speaking left brain with conflicting actions by the right brain. The left brain will invent an explanation on the spot. https://physics.weber.edu/carroll/honors/split_brain.htm https://physics.weber.edu/carroll/honors/split_brain.htm

elliekelly 6y ago
Do people with split brain syndrome have an internal “stream of consciousness”? Or two? I’m not sure what the right word/phrase would be but I’m talking about our internal monologue or narration.
- Zigurd 6y ago
  It's complicated. Corpus callosotomy, also called commissurotomy, to relieve seizures was not designed for the purpose of creating completely non-communicating hemispheres. Every patient is different. And so on. There is a long list complicating factors and a longer list of possible factors. My guess is that it adds up to it being really difficult to make two truly separate consciousnesses, and that observations of these patients see interesting effects but they are still one mind.
SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
Another example would be simple dreaming. The "you" experiencing the dream is indistinguishable from a conscious being (normal you) at least to itself. It has thoughts, feelings, sensations, and experiences. There can also be other people in your dream, and you can sometimes converse with them. Yet (unless you're dreaming you can read minds) your dream self can't tell what these other dream-people are thinking, even though they're all part of your mind. And they can be indistinguishable to you from conscious beings.
- tcgv 6y ago
  > your dream self can't tell what these other dream-people are thinking, even though they're all part of your mind That's a great proposition! Nevertheless I'd be more inclined to believe that these dream-people are not really thinking, and most likely don't have conciousness, as they're stimulations of our visual perceptions slightly modified in some sort of dynamic/interactive manner and mixed together with our memory and recollections.
  - SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
    Yet you (your main dream self) perceives them as conscious. They pass all the tests for being real, thinking beings. They respond like real people, at least much of the time. So how can one tell if they're thinking or not?

by Joeri 6y ago

elliekelly 6y ago

Do people with split brain syndrome have an internal “stream of consciousness”? Or two? I’m not sure what the right word/phrase would be but I’m talking about our internal monologue or narration.

Zigurd 6y ago
It's complicated. Corpus callosotomy, also called commissurotomy, to relieve seizures was not designed for the purpose of creating completely non-communicating hemispheres. Every patient is different. And so on. There is a long list complicating factors and a longer list of possible factors. My guess is that it adds up to it being really difficult to make two truly separate consciousnesses, and that observations of these patients see interesting effects but they are still one mind.

SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago

Another example would be simple dreaming. The "you" experiencing the dream is indistinguishable from a conscious being (normal you) at least to itself. It has thoughts, feelings, sensations, and experiences. There can also be other people in your dream, and you can sometimes converse with them. Yet (unless you're dreaming you can read minds) your dream self can't tell what these other dream-people are thinking, even though they're all part of your mind. And they can be indistinguishable to you from conscious beings.

tcgv 6y ago
> your dream self can't tell what these other dream-people are thinking, even though they're all part of your mind That's a great proposition! Nevertheless I'd be more inclined to believe that these dream-people are not really thinking, and most likely don't have conciousness, as they're stimulations of our visual perceptions slightly modified in some sort of dynamic/interactive manner and mixed together with our memory and recollections.
- SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
  Yet you (your main dream self) perceives them as conscious. They pass all the tests for being real, thinking beings. They respond like real people, at least much of the time. So how can one tell if they're thinking or not?