On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 10:58 PM, Craig Weinberg <[email protected]> wrote: > On Oct 1, 8:52 pm, Stathis Papaioannou <[email protected]> wrote: >> On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 5:35 AM, Craig Weinberg <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I'm afraid the analogies you use don't help, at least for me. Does an >> >> ion channel ever open in the absence of an observable cause? It's a >> >> simple yes/no question. Whether consciousness is associated, >> >> supervenient, linked, provided by God or whatever is a separate >> >> question. >> >> > Observable by who? >> >> Observable by a third party. > > Yes. If you only look at the ion channels of a neuron in someone's > amygdala without knowing what you are looking at or what the subject > is thinking about, then you are not going to know that the voltage is > changing because they are thinking of hitting a straight flush on the > river after going 'all in'. If you trace it back further, you will see > earlier voltage changes or depolarizations in cognitive areas, and > then in the audio sensory areas of the brain if the suggestion came as > a verbal instruction from a researcher. None of those changes in > different regions of the brain mean anything though except in > reference to the back end semantic understanding.
So you do believe that ion channels will open without an observable cause, since thoughts are not an observable cause. A neuroscientist would see neurons firing apparently for no reason, violating physical laws. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
