Who am I? Am I somebody? Am I an illusion? A collection of sub-somebodies? And, to borrow language from economics, how fungible is the sense of self after brain injury?
Science News tackles the latest in these issues here.
This is a slice of my philosophical, lay scientific, musical, religious skepticism, and poetic musings. (All poems are my own.) The science and philosophy side meet in my study of cognitive philosophy; Dan Dennett was the first serious influence on me, but I've moved beyond him. The poems are somewhat related, as many are on philosophical or psychological themes. That includes existentialism and questions of selfhood, death, and more. Nature and other poems will also show up here on occasion.
More than 15 years since I have posted this, my own thoughts are nuanced.
ReplyDeleteI think we have a semi-core semi-stable quasi-self.
This quasi-self, per Dan Dennett, does not have a "central meaner."
This quasi-self also, going beyond Dennett and per Daniel Wegner, also doesn't have a "central free willer."
It is at least somewhat fungible.