Human Consciousness: stimuli, analog to digital (Humans)

by dhw, Saturday, September 24, 2016, 12:23 (2981 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: My interpretation of NDE research is that the unconscious patient has the episode, but only appreciates it as his brain becomes conscious and receives the episode information back from the separate consciousness which returns to contact with the receiver brain. How else would the patient's consciousness survive the brain's absent function?-Dhw: What do you mean by “appreciates it”? The patients report the emotions they felt and the conversations they had when they entered the “other world”.-You have replied by defining the word “appreciate”. My point was that the brainless patients ALREADY felt the emotions and held the conversations when they were in the “other world”, i.e. they did not need to wait until they had a functioning brain in order to experience consciousness or to realize, grasp, understand that they were feeling emotions and holding conversations. I then explained further: ”If your consciousness is a separate disembodied entity, then it uses your brain to control your body, but it does not need your brain to be you, with the memories, emotions and other immaterial attributes that constitute you.”-DAVID: As a dualist, I believe when I die my consciousness/soul goes to Heaven intact, no brain required, the consciousness a separate entity from the brain.
Dhw: If you believe your consciousness is a separate entity from your brain, it is a clear contradiction for you to claim that consciousness cannot exist without a brain. You may believe that your God has preprogrammed every move made by every brainless organism, but that does not remove the contradiction in your thinking.-DAVID: How many times do I have to repeat the brain acts as a receiver of consciousness, which I believe has the ability as a separate entity to enter afterlife.-No need for you to repeat it. If you think your consciousness, together with all the immaterial elements of your identity such as your memories, intelligence, ideas etc., can exist separately from a receiving brain, just explain why you think consciousness CANNOT exist separately from a receiving brain.