This is exactly what I mean by medieval philosophy.
2 minutes, 16 seconds
I don’t get it. Like I have thoughts that you cannot access. You have thoughts that I cannot access. If we’re not going to call that distinction, that big wall between us, the self, then like what is that thing?
“That thing” is the fact that you an evolved animal and individual organism. The only reality “you” will ever be privy to, is your own subjective impression of physical reality.
This is because it is our very own body in the act of living that creates your conscious awareness. That is also why you will never really “know” what it is like to be some other organism.
Science provides a tool, a lens, a portal, to some of the facts of nature - which we do our best (or not) to interpret into meaning as best we can grasp given our commitment to honest learning.
2:50 “… the first step to unraveling …”
7:28 “pure being”
That’s worthless, we are biological being with unimagined complexities at work creating our body, sense, information processing systems - that is who we are.
“Pure being” jazz, are thoughts that humans have. And the thoughts we have, are once removed from the physical reality your sense, body, and brain are living within
8:18 “Which is there’s something that it’s like to be part of the universe, but it doesn’t seem like there’s something that it’s like to be another part, right?”
That’s cute.
11:30 “… it’s reasonable to speculate that you know there are parts of me that might be might be conscious now, that I the talking subject, either can’t, or don’t, in each present moment have direct access to. …”
And to the serious scientists it’s blindingly obvious that the functioning body, requires many layers of active interwoven consciousness tracking the myriad of functions involved in a body living every moment.
Our, voices, the introspective consciousness we are so rightfully proud of, that is the frosting on top of the awareness consciousness maelstrom that is your living body.
Awareness and Consciousness is a reflection our physical body’s need to know itself. Something that’s been life greatest challenge since the first single celled organisms started forming.
12:32 “And and so that for for me, pansychism just sort of um, and idealism, just don’t they don’t really helpfully to illuminate that apparent difference.”
12:46 “I think that the hemispheric divide of the brain is along with Ian McGilchrist perhaps one of the most significant psychological facts ever.”
Iain McGilchrist argues that the divide between the left and right brain hemispheres is significant because they don’t just process different types of information, but they attend to the world in fundamentally incompatible ways. This division evolved to solve a survival conundrum: living creatures must simultaneously pay narrow, targeted attention to grab food (left hemisphere) and broad, vigilant attention to avoid becoming food (right hemisphere).
Reviewers like A.C. Grayling and Michael Corballis argue that his conclusions go "far beyond the neurological facts”.
Seems like a reach, plus it still side steps the reality of us being evolved organisms, and all that has to teach us about our body and why it functions as it does.
15:40 If you want to think about emergence, the best place to start is with the invention of biology - that is when Earth and Geology and Chemistry figured out how to harness electricity via the Krebs cycle. Check out Nick Lane’s recent book Transformer for the details. Also, ‘Does the Krebs cycle provide the key to unlocking the “Hard Problem”?’
I keep wondering why and how do philosophers justify constantly ignoring the body during these sorts of discussions about consciousness? After all it is your body doing all the physical experiencing and tasting, etc. - Sure the brain is monstrously important, but without the body, the brain is pointless, useless, nothing.
Like a conductor without his full symphony, it doesn’t make sense.
Nature did create a brain, it created a totally integrated body that includes the brain. We are evolved creatures, to understand ourselves we need to start spending a bit of time understanding how evolution creates biological complexity.