This is interesting on intelligence:
bbc.co.uk
One would think a much lower level of intelligence than the Panda.
And the mind body question:
artsci.wustl.edu
""The author traces the origin of the body-mind continuum in utero and on to the formation of a separate self. He starts with the principle that the mind is extended through the body rather than localized in the brain. He then follows the path of differentiation of the mind from bodily functions, as well as the differentiation of physiological learning from mental learning. Some somatic disturbances can be dated, in the sense that they could not occur at certain stages of development. This hypothesis is supported by observations relating to dating links to various conditions, i.e. on regurgitation, asthma and stuttering."" -E. Gaddini
For more on consciousness as an 'emergent' quality and the "mind body problem"...see "Searle":
philosophy.uwaterloo.ca
Maginn agrees:
philosophy.uwaterloo.ca
but seems to think the "mind body problem" seems beyond our understanding somehow.... "mind body problem":
artsci.wustl.edu
perceptualchaos.gnn.tv
And of course James discusses the problem at length in his still widely regarded work.... and a book I've linked in several times by physicist Dr. Henry Stapp:
amazon.com
Or his paper:
www-physics.lbl.gov
""Neuropsychological research on the neural basis of behavior generally posits that brain mechanisms will ultimately suffice to explain all psychologically described phenomena. This assumption stems from the idea that the brain is made up entirely of material particles and fields, and that all causal mechanisms relevant to neuroscience can therefore be formulated solely in terms of properties of these elements. Thus terms having intrinsic mentalistic and/or experiential content (e.g., "feeling," "knowing," and "effort") are not included as primary causal factors. This theoretical restriction is motivated primarily by ideas about the natural world that have been known to be fundamentally incorrect for more than three quarters of a century. Contemporary basic physical theory differs profoundly from classical physics on the important matter of how the consciousness of human agents enters into the structure of empirical phenomena. The new principles contradict the older idea that local mechanical processes alone can account for the structure of all observed empirical data. Contemporary physical theory brings directly and irreducibly into the overall causal structure certain psychologically described choices made by human agents about how they will act. This key development in basic physical theory is applicable to neuroscience, and it provides neuroscientists and psychologists with an alternative conceptual framework for describing neural processes. Indeed, due to certain structural features of ion channels critical to synaptic function, contemporary physical theory must in principle be used when analyzing human brain dynamics. The new framework, unlike its classical-physics-based predecessor is erected directly upon, and is compatible with, the prevailing principles of physics, and is able to represent more adequately than classical concepts the neuroplastic mechanisms relevant to the growing number of empirical studies of the capacity of directed attention and mental effort to systematically alter brain function.""
So Solon's wording that "Components of mind are dependent upon brain functions" would be more correct than to assume that the mind 'comes from' the brain itself. So there may very well be a "spirit" or "mind" as well as just physicality to our being. This probably should be obvious by the anecdotes of many patients under anestetic who have reported being "out of their bodies" during surgery or the near death experience reports.
DAK |
