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• That consciousness arises out of the interaction of brain and environment is not only an old idea, as the article admits, but also one, I suspect, not lost on most neuroscientists. I think Noe may be exaggerating the extent to which the neuroscientific vision is reductionist. Also, I get this uneasy feeling (queasy, actually) that there is a bit more than meets the eye here: philosophers, having never been a demographic that has enjoyed anything like "job stability", are feeling increasingly marginalized, and squeezed out by the success that the scientific method has had in domains traditionally deemed to be within the realm of "philosophical speculation". To me some of the criticism leveled by philosophers against scientists (not just here but elsewhere) smacks of the kind of reaction that I'd expect from a mind dominated by religious dogma. In it's self-assumed role as "grand protector" of Western Humanism, it seems that philosophy has taken a wrong turn and is heading towards a merger with something like theology. Philosophy is not priveledged by some special mandate that makes it a more "humane" area of enquiry than science. I doubt that most scientists take such a narrow view of themselves: I don't think they deem themselves scientists first, human beings second. I think they have a much richer view of what it means to be human than Noe would lead us to believe. Noe, despite his philosphical training has made a straw man.
  francz ke

  Apr. 14, 2009 at 7:01am
• On Consciousness
  
  
  A. "Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness" by Alva Noe
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  Review by Bruce Bower
  
  
  B. "Memory, Sentience and Consciousness"
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  As gravity is THE manifestation of the onset of the cosmic inflation cataclysm and consequent universe evolution, so sentience is the manifestation of the onset of consciousness and its consequent neural system evolution.
  
  My definitions, from Merriam-Webster:
  
  Sentience = state of elementary or undifferenciated consciousness as distinguished from perception and thought.
  
  Consciousness = the quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself and/or of an external object, state, or fact.
  
  I suggest that ALL forms of life possess the attribute of sentience, and that from the base towards the most evolved life forms sentience has been evolving into ever more complex form, consciousness.
  
  
  C. "Life Is Simpler Than They Tell Us"
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  Evolution of Earth life:
  Genes to Genomes to Monocellular to Multicellular Organisms;
  Direct Sunlight Only To Metabolic Energy, Too;
  Triptophan To Serotonin To Melatonin To Neural System.
  
  Now we can appreciate the fractal nature of life's evolution. It is ever-continuous ever-enhanced ever-complexed cooperation. Now we can understand why, and grosso modo how, all the organs and processes and signals found in multicelled organisms have their origins in the monocells communities. And this includes the functions of serotonin and melatonin and, yes, the evolution of neural cells and the neural systems with their intricate cellular outer-membrane shapes and functionings and with their high energy consumption requirements.
  
  
  D. "Life And Culture Are Virtual Realities"
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  Culture is the totality of ways of the organisms' dealing with (reaction to, manipulation of, exploitation of) its environment. Culture is a biological entity selected for survival of the genome as means of extending its exploitation capabilities of the out-of-cell circumstances, consequent to the earlier evolution and selection of the genome's organ, its outermost cell membrane, for controlling the inside-of-cell genes'-commune environmental circumstances.
  
  Culture is the ubiqitous biological entity that drives Earth life evolution, by imprinting genetics, by continuously modifying genes' expressions.
  
  "Spiritual matters" are virtual reality affairs. They are feasible only for living organisms that have a culture, i.e. that have a pattern of sensings and reactions to the sensings. Genes, and therefore also genomes, are organisms and display virtual reality phenomena, therefore also multicelled organisms,including humans, display such "spiritual" phenomena.
  
  
  Dov Henis
  (Comments From The 22nd Century)
  Life's Manifest
  [Link was removed] #578
  EVOLUTION Beyond Darwin 200
  [Link was removed] #1407
  Dov Henis

  Apr. 15, 2009 at 12:17pm
• francz ke, the question in this case is whether Dr. Noe knows what he is talking about. If so, then this philosopher's encroachment into science is justified. Also, who is the intended audience? It may be for a more general academic audience (including philosophers of mind) who do believe consciousness is in the brain. As to philosophy's role, it is surely the case that it has shrunk over time. However, the landscape in contemporary philosophy is very much divided on whether there is a special realm that science cannot tread. Many philosophers agrue that there is no such special realm that is only accessible with the tools of philosophy. The methods of the sciences and the methods of philosophy, while differing in various ways, should not and does not have a hard division. However, I gather these philosophers still think there is something for them to do: facilitate discussions, synthesize various fields, analyze the use of language, evaluate arguments and evidence, etc. Of course, sometimes the jack of all trades is not good at jack, but there are philosophers who can be useful as philosophers without retreating into some special a priori realm. Moreover, I have met and read many smart scientists who make pronouncements on important moral and political questions that could use a little philosophy. What I gather from this is that we should aim for more interaction across disciplines so that disagreements and misunderstandings can be elicited and resolved, rather than fester in separate containers.
  Brett Anderson

  Apr. 23, 2009 at 10:45am
• Brain Science will only become a mature Science of Consciousness when it starts studying sufficiency for consciousness. Aeronautics matured by going past the study of birds to develop more-general theories of flight. Similarly, we must grow past questions of how human brains effect/affect consciousness to discover the deeper concepts that underlie consciousness. (I suspect we're a long ways off yet.) Plus, at least until we find ways to test our theories of those concepts, philosophers must be welcome co-investigators.
  James Sasaki

  Aug. 1, 2009 at 3:21pm
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  m9bnat m9bnat2

  Jan. 14, 2010 at 10:57am