Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
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What is it? Where did it come from? How can we learn more about it? Here's a quick look at what we do and don't know about consciousness
Take a deep breath. Philosopher reviews neuroscientist's book on self-awareness. How did the mind create a notion of self? Or did the self create a notion of mind? Do I "know" that Obama is the US president, even when I am asleep?
Philosophy and psychology might seem unlikely bedfellows. Not to Peter Carruthers, a philosopher and "theoretical psychologist". Works on the mind, consciousness: "There is no such thing as conscious choice or conscious decision"
Austrian logician Kurt Gödel proved that self-referentialism can create unanswerable questions, unsolvable problems. His work revealed paradoxes in mathematics, but it has important implications for consciousness research too
Useful backgrounder on complex subject – the nature of the mind, consciousness and perception. Can you distinguish verificationism from behaviourism and scientific reductionism? No? Don't worry, this should set you straight
Neuroscientist David Eagleman discusses consciousness, decision-making, responsibility. And his controversial view on how our justice system should be reformed in light of scientific discoveries
Surgeon argues that human mind cannot be reduced to activity of physical brain, as shaped by evolution. "Just because neural activity is a necessary condition of consciousness, it does not follow that it is a sufficient condition"
"The anaesthetic would make me feel drowsy, I would go to sleep, when I woke up it would all be over. What they didn't tell me was how the drugs would send me into the realms of oblivion. They couldn't. The truth is, no one knows"
In America 200,000 patients are stuck in the "borderlands between consciousness and oblivion". Until recently, most doctors believed it was impossible to recover from this condition. The story of Chris Cox shows why this has changed
Fine roundup of latest neuroscience research from conference on nature of time. From how we form memories, to the evolution of consciousness and the infamous 80 millisecond rule. Enjoyable and informative throughout
