The War on Neuroscience - Part 2: Split Brains, Split Souls (For DawahFilms, Questioning Dualism)

The War on Neuroscience : Part 2
Split Brains, Split Souls

Part 1 is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77XBZHJcoK4

Part 3 is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRkzdFG-lyE

Audio segments used for this part were taken from a couple other youtube videos featuring V.S. Ramachandran, a neurologist who is the Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and a professor in the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego. And also neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga who did the original work on split brains:

V.S. Ramachandran at Beyond Belief 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZClfg_kzwE

Soul Searching 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMDeIj1ZaOs

The "Soul Searching" video is an extract from a documentary that discussed whether there was still a meaning to the idea of the soul. It's not really friendly to neuroscience but it becomes obvious that those who complain about what neuroscience is discovering have nothing but very vacuous ideas of a soul or spirit to counter it with.

Michael Gazzaniga's research, done over 40 years ago, also resulted in a tentative theory about "the self" and the "location of the self" in the brain. It was one of the first glimpses of how we are capable of lying to ourselves in order to maintain an illusion of a rational self driving our choices. Many other psychology experiments have also challenged the ideas we have about free will, consciousness and this illusion of a soul since then.


More nails in the coffin of dualism
http://youtu.be/mg3hDzkmPww

-------------------

About AWARE

Dr. Sam Parnia Claims Near Death Experience Probably an Illusion:

http://www.skeptiko.com/sam-parnia-claims-near-death-experience-probably-an-i...

Sam Parnia on MSNBC:
http://youtu.be/-DkFGWMFfRU

Category:

Education

Tags:

• soul
• neuroscience
• religion
• Veritas48
• Ramachandran
• Gazzaniga
• neural nets
• brain
• theory of self

[zarkoff45]

@AnduinX

Just using the word "materialism" marks you as an ignorant troll. The words we use are Physicalism" and "naturalism."

watch?v=69E7wcIUARc

watch?v=eU-wpNOyuas

[AnduinX]

@infinit888: I'm going to go off on a limb here and guess you're calling me a troll because you view it as obvious that scientific and medical advancement is a direct result of materialist philosophy. It is not materialism that has brought us those advancements. Science has. They are not one in the same and dualism is not inherently anti-science (not even anti-neuroscience, FYI). Materialism is simply a belief system constructed around scientific data.

[AnduinX]

@zerkoff45: As for Sam Parnia, I believe he said what he needed to say to get funding and support. Check out Sam Parnia’s interview on the Skeptiko Podcast where Alex and him speak about this particular quote thoroughly. Sam Parnia essentially says, “He does not know the answer, if he did he wouldn’t have risked his career to study the subject.” – but truthfully I could care less about his personal beliefs either way. They’re unimportant next to the study of the subject itself.

[AnduinX]

@zerkoff45: Additionally I think my last point is still valid. Rather than getting into a war of definition with you about the word consciousness, I’ll simply substitute consciousness for ‘experiential awareness’. How do split-brain patients prove that the right brain has its own experiential awareness, when far more complicated responses and actions have seemingly occurred in the absence of experiential awareness (unconsciousness)?

[AnduinX]

@zerkoff45: I’ve heard Marvin’s view before, and I don’t see it as a definition of consciousness at all. It says nothing about the subjective experience of consciousness. There’s also no proof that this view is correct. It’s a belief, and taking it as a basic truth to the point of calling other people’s definitions of consciousness butchered is unjustified.

[zarkoff45]

@AnduinX "Scientific experiments can be run on the non-physical as well. The AWARE study,..."

I've added two links about the AWARE study to the underbar, please check out the link under the heading,

"Dr. Sam Parnia Claims Near Death Experience Probably an Illusion."

[infinit888]

@AnduinX "Scientific experiments can be run on the non-physical as well"

That's what I implied no? I am not aware of a single dualistic hypothesis which isn't in need of ad hoc rationalization after the neuroscientific experiments are actually performed.

"What has materialism done for us?" - I mean this in the kindest way possible get the fuck of our internet. I don't engage trolls.

[zarkoff45]

@AnduinX "provide me with your definition of consciousness"

Sure, but you won't like it. Just Google "Consciousness is a Big Suitcase, A Talk with Marvin Minsky" and read that.

[AnduinX]

@zarkoff45: If my definition of consciousness is so twisted, perhaps you could provide me with your definition of consciousness - and if my view of this is not tenable, then please tell me how split brains specifically prove that the right brain has awareness and experience of its own. Sleep walkers can do far more impressive things than anything the right brain did in this video, which goes to show that mental activity in the absence of consciousness can explain anything shown here.

[zarkoff45]

@AnduinX "It's perfectly tenable."

No, it is not tenable. At least not without some really bogus and twisted definition of consciousness. And you do not understand the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind.