Free Will, Consciousness, Identity (Identity)

by dhw, Friday, August 03, 2012, 17:38 (4494 days ago) @ dhw

This discussion seems to have run its course, inevitably without a conclusion. For Romansh, the concept of free will makes no sense (and it would make no sense to me either if its definition excluded consciousness and demanded independence from the universe), and for Matt it is simply irrelevant, because the actions will remain the same whether the will is free or not, and because we can't know the answer anyway (which makes all philosophy irrelevant too). David's latest post on brain scans, however, leaves me reluctant to drop the subject altogether.-DAVID: (under "Free will again") More fMRI hype: Too many conclusions from blood flow studies: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120801154716.htm-This article and another on the same website under "New Paper Pinpoints Seat of Self-Control in the Brain" point to the prefrontal cortex as the control system. This seems to suggest that the cells are the source of consciousness, intelligence, will etc. But here is a very straightforward article which stresses the fact that just like our muscles, the brain can be strengthened by exercise: -www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?ItemNumber=150439 -The gist of the message is: "When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more that you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow."
 
This is highly relevant to the context of free will, consciousness and identity. I cannot see how brain cells can make us learn new things, challenge the "mind", and therefore force themselves to grow. The last article ... with no philosophical axe to grind ... clearly assumes a distinction between identity, brain and mind ("You Can Grow Your Intelligence"). And so if "I" consciously decide on a course of action (= use my will), it is the will that controls the brain cells, and not vice versa. -The materialist idea that brain cells constitute the seat of my identity, since they are supposed to control my thinking, consciousness, emotions, memory, will etc., seems inconceivable to me. So too, however, does the concept of some unknown, changeable, yet uniquely personal form of energy that does constitute my identity. And so until the mystery of consciousness is solved, whatever it is that constitutes the "mind" of whatever it is that constitutes "me" will remain open on all subjects such as free will, psychic and mystic experiences, and the existence of a universal form of intelligent energy that some people call God. However, in the light of the discussion so far, and regardless of whether the will is free or not, I'd be interested to know what others regard as the "seat" of their identity, i.e. just what substance our experiences and other influences actually work on.