Ever wondered what the neural circuits in the human brain look like? I can’t keep my eyes off the beautiful feathery image at the start of an article titled A Neuroscientist’s Radical Theory of How Networks Become Conscious. Anybody interested in consciousness studies will benefit from reading this article. I must confess to getting a bit lost towards the end when the wondering went to whether or not the Internet is conscious… Be that as it might be I’ve returned once more this evening to gaze at the neural circuits of the brain. I’d publish it here but copyright issues have me refraining. More stunning images of the brain on The Human Connectome Project site.
I went back to university in my mid-40s (late 1990s) to study cognitive and social psychology, but not so much for themselves as much as to see if there was any great conflict between new sciences of mind (Must bear in mind: not so long ago behavioursism held the high ground, with its “ratropomorphic” view of the human experience.) and abhidharma.
I found none. Chief reason for this, I’d say, is that the new approaches don’t over-reach. Applying the evidence-based approach of scientism, they … if you will … humble themselves.
I read with real pleasure about “the hard question of consciousness”. Some fine scholars and some fine writing. (David Chalmers … lovely fellow.)
The beautifully feathery images? A lot here is owed to “the new science of complexity”, which allows us at least to approach the fractal-linearity of systems that are re-entrant i.e. “feed-back / feed-forward”.
It’s brilliant stuff!
KC: