-"The Fatal Fulfillment," p. 340.
That first sentence is plausible. Think of every thought that you have ever had, then consider the difficulty of correlating each of those thoughts with just one detectable pattern of electrical activity in the brain. Even if one such correlation were to be made, that particular thought would probably never be repeated. It is plausible that neuronic interactions within the entire brain generate each momentary thought. But there is still a problem.
A man thinks for an hour, then recounts his thoughts which can be about anything: his earliest memories, his current work schedule and daily routines, his plans for the weekend and for a holiday next year, his knowledge of various academic disciplines, his opinions about religion, politics, art and literature etc. Meanwhile, a scientist records the man's brain activities, then reports what he has recorded. They are talking about different things. Thoughts are not simply identical with brain functions. It seems that brain functions cause thoughts but causality is not identity.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Iow, all that a scientist trying to study brain waves and functions can reasonably say is that the man whose brain he is analyzing is THINKING. But not what those thoughts are about or what he is thinking.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
That seems to be it. Just like we can see that there is a black hole but not what is inside it?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Correct, certain phenomena has been deduced as material enters a black hole. But unless we fall into one, we cannot say for certain what happens to anything or anyone that happens to.
For completeness' sake, I should add that experts using lie detectors can use bodily phemomena or reactions to tell if a person being questioned is lying or being truthful. But that is not the same as directly knowing the contents of that person's brain waves/functions.
This recent discussion of Anderson's "difficult" stories had me rereading my own "The Toughest Story Written by Poul Anderson" article. And parts of my "How Many Heads Do Ymirites Have?"
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
And, if we do fall into a black hole, then we are first pulled apart by gravity, then compressed into a point, so we do not see anything in there either. But does this enable us to deduce that what is in there is vacuum with a very strong gravitational field and nothing else?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Some have speculated, such as Ben Bova and PA himself (in a private letter to me), that persons who fall into a black hole might not be "pulled apart," etc. And I think it was that "very strong gravitational field" which has led physicists to that pulling apart conclusion. Iow, there is still much we don't know or understand about black holes.
And, of course, Anderson wrote one of the earliest black hole stories, "Kyrie." I have stated elsewhere my regret at him apparently being unable to fit it into the Technic series, where it would have been a wonderful addition.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
But a black hole IS a gravitational field where the escape velocity is above the speed of light. If you fell in feet first, then your feet would accelerate faster than your head so you would be pulled apart.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, which is exactly what we see in "Kyrie," for example. But that has not stopped some SF writers, including Anderson himself, from indulging in some far out speculations!
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment