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

by David Turell , Saturday, August 29, 2015, 17:57 (3374 days ago) @ David Turell

Another article by the author Anil Ananthaswamy on the science of self. In this article he discusses out of the body experiences, but he does not mention the ones that occur in anesthetized patients during surgery:-http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-lessons-of-out-of-body-experiences-1440774646-"But what these lab experiments and studies are showing us is that nothing is really leaving the body during an out-of-body experience. When the brain is operating on sensory information that is congruent (meaning that the sensations of touch match what the eyes are seeing, for example), the brain situates the self in the body and provides a sense of perspective and body ownership. -"But when the sensations aren't congruent, because someone is being tricked by the rubber-hand illusion or suffering from some neurological aberration, the brain does its best to make sense of all the misleading data. The brain can miscalculate the coordinates for the self, positioning it outside the body or in another illusory body. -"So modern studies of out-of-body experiences and full-body illusions aren't making a case for dualism. Rather, they're showing us that the sense of bodily self is something that is constructed by the brain moment by moment. The bodily self turns out to be the basis for our greater sense of self, which involves more complex aspects including the narrative self (that is, the stories we tell others and ourselves about who we are) and the social, cultural self.-"Our sense of self arises from a complex interaction among brain, body, mind and culture—and in the full-blown selves we are, all aspects of the self interact with and influence one another. But it all begins with the body."-Comment: Romansh will disagree, but I view the brain and its workings as a biologic computer that does as best it can, two or three times removed from reality, to present reality to us. And it dos an excellent job. Just look at a modern city and you can see human endeavor at work. We get what we intend to plan. -But at times we can note being fooled. For example, sitting in a parking lot in your car and slightly daydreaming. The next car backs out and you feel for an instant as if you are moving. So? We still conduct our lives with planning and purpose and succeed. That is all that is necessary. And the author has not explained consciousness and avoided (perhaps purposely) operative out-of-the-body experiences when the person is chemically unconscious.