"What makes humans unique is not material and looking for it in the architecture of the brain is a well-funded waste of time that eats up the time an intellectual powers of too many thinkers these days."-Our brain power makes us unique (as does our skeletal posture not covered in this article)-http://tbsblog.thebestschools.org/2013/05/09/where-human-uniqueness-apparently-does-not-lie/#more-13291
Brainy humans unique
by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Sunday, May 12, 2013, 06:05 (4214 days ago) @ David Turell
edited by unknown, Sunday, May 12, 2013, 06:19
If it is not a material difference, then can we safely call it a 'spiritual' difference, for lack of a better term? (I know some poor scientist somewhere is going to read that and choke on his sandwich.)- My other thought/question is, could the answer be as simple as free will? Animals are slaves to their instincts in a way that humans are not(entirely). Could that one subtle but profound difference be responsible for all the others?
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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.
Brainy humans unique
by David Turell , Sunday, May 12, 2013, 18:03 (4214 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained
tony: My other thought/question is, could the answer be as simple as free will? Animals are slaves to their instincts in a way that humans are not(entirely). Could that one subtle but profound difference be responsible for all the others?-The issue for the materialists always comes back to the mind as a slave of the neurons: no free will, just the illusion of it. My answer is it is a powerful illusion or it is real, and I chose real.
Brainy humans unique
by David Turell , Tuesday, September 17, 2013, 21:24 (4085 days ago) @ David Turell
Where imagination is developed; lots of places at once:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130916162003.htm
Brainy humans unique
by dhw, Thursday, September 19, 2013, 19:52 (4084 days ago) @ David Turell
DAVID: Where imagination is developed; lots of places at once: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130916162003.htm-QUOTE: Philosophers and scientists have long puzzled over where human imagination comes from. In other words, what makes humans able to create art, invent tools, think scientifically and perform other incredibly diverse behaviors? ________________________________________-The answer, Dartmouth researchers conclude in a new study, lies in a widespread neural network -- the brain's "mental workspace" -- that consciously manipulates images, symbols, ideas and theories and gives humans the laser-like mental focus needed to solve complex problems and come up with new ideas. -The rest of the article is in precisely the same vein, and I've struggled to find any answer to the question at the head of this passage. They might just as well have said that imagination, like every other faculty associated with human consciousness, springs from the brain. The fact that different areas of the brain are associated with different activities is hardly a new discovery, but still leaves unanswered the question of HOW globules of matter produce consciousness, images, emotions etc., and indeed whether the brain cells do produce them, as opposed to receiving them. Have I missed something, or is this another case of have grant, will babble?
Brainy humans unique
by David Turell , Thursday, September 19, 2013, 21:54 (4083 days ago) @ dhw
dhwp: Have I missed something, or is this another case of have grant, will babble?-Grant babble producing the obvious.