The Human Question

The axon hillock either fires entirely or not at all. It is a one or a zero. If cognition were identical witht the collective firing of axons (IF!)... ...then no one of these individual components would cognize differently under different circumstances. All differences in cognition would, at the end of the day, be identical with different combinations of cognitive "ones" and "zeros." Furthermore, every possible cognition in a brain would already be there POTENTIALLY inasmuch as it would be simply a definite combination of these ones and zeroes. And qualitative differences in our perceptions would be reduced to different arrangements of these ones and zeros.

DaVinci thought the open spaces of the brain, called ventricles, were the place where cognition occurred through the mixing of spirits (that is, vapors). It would seem that neurotransmitters are the new spirits.

1. During anesthesia, the cortex is fully active, yet not conscious because the ascending signals are not forwarded by the reticular formation. 2. Only animals with neo-cortex have REM 3. It is possible that REM has to do with the consolidation of long term memory. 4. Posopagnosia: the condition of being unable to recognize faces that one sees.... even though one may be able to imagine the same faces. 5. The definition of consciousness: one prof gives that definition as follows: attention, self-reference, & awareness.... This sort of definition might require us to say that frogs catching flies are not conscious. Yet they are not zombies, robots. When we drive down a very, very familiar highway w/o paying attention to our driving, is our awareness of the road conditions "consciousness," is it like the frog catching the fly, or is it something different? 6. The binding problem: there is no one place in the brain where all cognition comes together, even though we experie...