36. V.S. Ramachandran Takes Questions and Audience Discussion (3 of 4) - Beyond Belief 2006

[hughJ25]

I much preferred Tyson here compared to his normally over-animated nature. Perhaps it's due to the academic nature of the discussion and audience. Maybe I'm weird, but I find that thought provoking questions and ideas are just so much more digestible when spoken in a calm, collected and steady voice. Hopefully he can channel some Sagan when he does the new Cosmos show.

[TomVodkaCollins]

Blue blazer, white shirt, no tie needs to STFU.

[fritspas]

@TomVodkaCollins

why? he seemed to have some rather valid points

[TomVodkaCollins]

@TomVodkaCollins Oy! Mia culpa! I watched the whole portion of video then commented afterward and must've got the guy I described mixed up with someone else. X^D

[TomVodkaCollins]

I wonder if alien abductees have temporal lobe epilepsy.

[test123ok]

Question about intention: We can measure activity in distinct portions of the brain from different external impulses(neural *reactions*), but how does the brain decide on :

1. which parts of the brain should react ?

2. what subsequent actions to take? (if for example there is no memory of prior analogous scenario to deduce the soundness of a response..i.e. totally creative ideas.)

Can the circuitry for reasoning these subsequent actions be narrowed down to neural organisation and/or genes ?

[dleddy14]

And dance and music are also some of the evolved traits in humans that allowed for our relative success. My guess is that Neaderthals couldn't dance very well, and didn't have a strong belief in a god. Are delusionary belief in a god/God is part of our qualia.

[dleddy14]

I would enjoy these questions more if the understanding was more from an evolutionary trait point of view. Religion in humans is an evolved trait that allowed us to be the fittest of the hominids. This is the problem I have with Dawkins. His fight for the logic of aethism is like trying to convince people that dance and music are stupid and meaningless, which they are, unless you are a human.

[HecticRat]

@dleddy14 There is no solid argument/theory about why religion and theism exist in human beings. Given what we know, yes, we can SPECULATE as to why religion exists, but we can't say so DEFINITIVELY. And for that matter, we can hardly say that any trait is necessary because it came about through evolution. Simply because we have the capacity to believe in God (and dance and sing, etc.) it doesn't mean we should or that we have to.

[dleddy14]

@HecticRat I am with you. Same with my labido. Just because I have the capacity to feel horny doesn't mean I should or that I have to. In fact, my ingrained sexuality is a major pain in my ass. It makes me into a male human who sees women as attractive when really, if i just thought through it, I would realize that it's just because I was evolved that way, and I shouldn't, and don't have to really feel sexual attraction to women, or at all. We can think our way out of our humanit

[lopytube]

@dleddy14 Ahhh yes.You must have done the samething I done in the past far as cogitating my way out of what is beauty or who is what we call beautiful.

Oh and a side note.Does anybody else have the feeling watching this that there's myriad of heavy hitters in that room.

Not gonna lie to you I would hate to get in a public debate with them(esp. that girl that asked the question to the quantum physics guy

[dleddy14]

We are spiritual creatures because that is the trait we evolved that allowed us to defeat other hominids. So there is a God or gods for us. It is us. It is our qualia.

[AlainG80]

12:59 The only way to convince this man is to show that you're omniscient. And than he will claim that you are God. Which makes the claim unfalsifiable and unscientific.

[libirated]

we so lucky to have access to such a great minds and informations

[Dathinkingman]

my brain had an orgasm =)

[worldsacrap]

super !!!

[Ender0410]

Gotta love all these great minds, love em all.