A Sense of Free Will: requires a properly functioning brain (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, August 15, 2015, 00:25 (3389 days ago) @ romansh

Rom: who is this us (or me or I in the singular) at the development stage?
> I know what it means for me, but I do have a confusing picture of what it means for you.-I'm just using us in a collective sense. We all follow a similar pattern of development modified obviously by the current emotional factors that each of us experience.-
> > David: The whole issue of consciousness is part of the problem. -> Rom: Only if you believe or assume it drives your actions-I wasn't clear, I was referring to the Hard Problem of how it arises and its relation to the brain, on which it depends in some way.
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> > Avid As a child develops an individual personality and ego defense mechanisms appear this requires the use of one's consciousness. 
 
> Rom: Does it? -Well, you are right, lots of folks develop a personality and self automatically without giving it much thought. Some of us do.->> Rom: A material intrinsic self is a self that can act independent of cause.-Thanks for the definition. Does that mean you accept free will?-> Rom: where does the self come from? As far as I can tell it is just a collection of atoms and any resulting physics that might occur. This collection of atoms and resulting physics are formed from the environment ... food, genes etc, experiences.-The self comes briefly stated, from the genetic background, developmental experiences, introspection, resulting in each of us having a concept, developed in the brain, of ourselves as a sense of self, an identity each of us recognizes as 'me'.
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> Rom: I would agree a baby is neither born with a self nor a sense of self. As we develop we gain a sense of self not an intrinsic self. Again I think you are imbuing consciousness with properties that I am far from convinced it does actually have.-We will have to disagree. What properties does your consciousness have? Are there limits?
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> Rom: Babies respond to the environment as does a well struck ball. Complexity may vary. I am having trouble seeing the relevance.-Babies are constantly responding to all that is outside them. Mothers reading to them at an early age increases IQ. Orphans in an institution do not develop normally if not stimulated. It is a two-way arrangement us and our brain. I study and an area of my cortex enlarges to handle it. That is why Einstein's brain is so interesting. A conceptual area is very thick compared to normal brains. Did he create it or was he born with it?