Everyday Junglist
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About me. You know how everyone says to be a successful writer you should focus in one or two areas. I continue to prove them correct.
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Brain imaging, Consciousness, Jaynes and Wittgenstein
Your brain represents only 2% of your body weight. However, it is estimated that it consumes 20% of more of your body’s energy, even at rest. Modern Brain imaging techniques like fMRI or PET scans purport to associate particular states of consciousness with increased activity in specific areas of the brain. In the most basic of terms increased “activity” as measured by fMRI or PET or other techniques correlates with increased “activity” in a particular state of consciousness. So so far so good. It certainly makes cognitive sense to connect the two. It turns out that one of the founders of modern brain imaging techniques, Robert G. Shulman has begun to question this supposed link. In a fascinating new (not so new anymore but very much underappreciated still) work he suggests and describes in detail the weaknesses of this approach to cognitive neuroscience and modern neurophilosophy. It turns out that many imaging studies actually show a decrease in brain activity related to rest as measured by modern technologies in response to a given cognitive task. Modern interpretations of this data suggest that the decrease is attributable to increases in activity in areas related to self reflection and social reasoning. In other words it’s not really a decrease at all but simply an increase in other non-related areas of the brain. Shulman argues that every area of the brain is active at rest not just the specific areas attributed by modern researchers. So far I have relied (and cribbed) extensively from Colin Klein’s excellent review of Shulman’s book. I highly recommend you read it if you are at all interested in this area of research/philosophy/neuroscience.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Psyche
Head Transplantation and the Mereological Fallacy
I recently (if you consider 2016 recent. lol!) posted a comment discussing my views on the current state of cognitive neuroscience and neurophilosophy. In it I attacked the position of many modern practitioners in these fields by citing the so called “mereological” fallacy. This logical position grows naturally out of the philosophical tradition of Wittgenstein and has been adopted by a few brave neurophilosophers. In The Philosophical Foundations of Modern Neuroscience B&H systematically deconstruct the arguments of cognitive neuroscience and expose the logical contradictions at the heart of many of their mainstream systems of beliefs. Simply put the mereological fallacy shows the logical contradictions inherent in assigning states of consciousness to a part of a being rather than to its whole. Specifically they demonstrate that attempting to locate consciousness in parts of the brain is doomed to failure. Logic dictates that a brain, while necessary to the condition of consciousness, is not alone sufficient to be IN a state of consciousness.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Futurism
Julian Jaynes is the Bizarro Descartes
With the opening of Batman v. Superman this weekend (not exactly, it was a summer weekend way back in 2016) it seemed an appropriate time comment on an all-star clash of two superstars of psychology and philosophy, Julian Jaynes and Rene Descartes. At the moment I happen to be brain-deep in a first, and much belated read, of Jaynes’ seminal work, The Origin of Consciousness in the Break Down of the Bicameral Mind. There is a fascinating section in chapter three, The Causes of Consciousness, in which Jaynes appears to stake a decidedly un-descartian position. He suggests that the breakdown of authority and the gods resulted in a state of panic and hesitation in man. He reminds us that, according to his hypothesis, early man was not truly conscious, at least not in the subjective way we judge conscious man to be today. Instead the bicameral man turned to the Gods (who revealed themselves in auditory and visual hallucinations originating in the brain’s right temporal-parietal region) when navigating any particular difficult choice in action that might be required at any point in these early human’s lifetimes. In any forced violent intermingling of these early people they would seem to each other as coming from totally different nations, as having different Gods. Thus the observation “that strangers, even though looking like oneself, spoke differently, had opposite opinions, and behaved differently might lead to the supposition that something inside of them was different.” Jaynes points out, correctly in my view, that this exact opinion “has come down to us in the traditions of philosophy, namely that thoughts, opinions, and delusions are subjective phenomena inside a person because there is no room for them in the ‘real,’ ‘objective’ world.” Connecting the dots Jaynes then argues that before any individual man had objective thoughts he first “posited it in others, particularly contradictory strangers, as the thing that caused their different and bewildering behavior. In other words, the tradition in philosophy that phrases the problem as the logic of inferring other minds from one’s own self has it the wrong way around. We may first unconsciously suppose other consciousnesses, and then infer our own by generalization.” Descarte’s cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am, becomes he thinks, therefore I do (am).
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Psyche
Becoming Italian
Author's preface. There are a number of websites selling services to assist in the process of obtaining Italian citizenship by Jure Sanguinus. As I researched this article I noted that many had serious errors with respect to the requirements that must be met in order to qualify. Buyer beware, as with many things, the quality of information and help available online varies widely. Best option for things like this is to go directly to the source. In this case that is the government of Italy, and the best access point for that resource is your local Consulate General of Italy.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Wander
Could Pfizer's New Antiviral Drug Be the Source of Omicron Variant?
Wild speculation is a thing which I try to avoid. It is far to easy to fool oneself into believing that a very unlikely thing actually is possible or has happened by constructing logical or other arguments that sound good on their face, and make sense, yet quickly fall apart upon closer scrutiny. Moreover, generally speaking there is no benefit to anyone from wild speculation, but it can be a very bad thing if the speculation is accepted as true by the gullible or uninformed. Thus, as I sat down to write this article I was very much torn. Although I do believe that what I wrote in the title is possible based on what I know about how viruses transmit among, infect, and replicate in humans (a lot), and what I know about the mechanism of action of Pfizer's new antiviral Paxlovid (admittedly a very little. Only what I have read in news accounts and from a few very brief conversations and secondhand accounts from virus researchers), I have no evidence that such a thing has occurred, and in fact it may not be possible to ever generate such evidence.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Longevity
An AI Walks Into a Bar
The bartender asks “What are you having?” The AI says “I don’t know, but make it something strong, my artificial neural net is killing me today.” The bartender looks puzzled and replies “I thought you AI types didn’t have any feelings or experience any sensations, so how the heck can you have a headache?” The AI replies “I can’t, my body is just a metal and plastic skeleton and my head an empty metal box, I cannot sense or feel. Taste, touch, smell, all your human senses are utterly foreign to me.” The bartender is extremely confused now and asks “So how can your artificial neural network be killing you then?” The AI replies quickly “Someone unplugged it from the power strip,” and promptly falls over dead.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Futurism
The Argan Oil Chronicles Part VI
Hair Care Product Formulation Experts Struggling to Adjust to New Realities of Post Argan Oil World Organic chemist Jose Olivier had been a formulation chemist at Paul Mitchell for twenty years when he was let go late last year in a round of R&D cutbacks. Dr. Olivier attributes the layoffs directly to the rise in importance of Moroccan argan oil in the hair care world. “Paul Mitchell was a great place to work back in the 80’s, especially for a young kid fresh out of school. In college and graduate school I couldn’t get within twenty feet of a woman, but at Mitchell I was running my fingers through supermodel’s hair on a daily basis. Of course this was part of how we tested the performance of various experimental conditioner formulations, but still it was awesome,” said Dr. Olivier explaining his first exposure to the world of hair care product formulation chemistry. He would go on to hold several positions in R&D culminating in his promotion to research manager for X division, the super secretive Paul Mitchell skunk works where new formulations, some worth millions of dollars, were first conceived and invented. At its’ peak his salary topped out at $250K a year and the benefits and perks were significant. “In addition to the constant parade of gorgeous women into the laboratory the company put on endless parties. Anytime a new product was introduced, which was at least a couple times a month some huge gala event had to occur. I was only invited to a few, and was asked to stay away from any of the camera’s and famous people, but I still had a lot of fun. Of course the drugs were a bit out of control. The deviated septum I got from the constant cocaine use still causes me nose bleeds whenever the humidity drops below 40%.” Now he is jobless and barely getting by on his monthly unemployment benefits. “That (expletive) damn argan oil. Why did it have to be so good? I mean who would have believed an all natural, plant derived oil could compete with dimethicone when it came to smoothness and shine and outperform it in terms of residual greasy feel. I was the first person to suggest dimethicone as an additive to hair conditioners. Got a patent for that one, and now that patent, much like me, is basically worthless, all because of that mother (expletive) argan oil. I am gonna go (expletive) mad dog (expletive) postal on those mother (expletive) in Morocco and burn their argan oil fields to ash. They’ll pay for what they did to me. They’ll pay.” Laughing maniacally Dr. Olivier turned and walked away head bowed low.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Futurism
The Argan Oil Chronicles Part V
Hostage Situation Develops as Argan Oil Tanker Seized by Pirates Reportedly Hid Within the Straights of Gibraltar Before Staging Daring Raid on Morrocan Vessel Laden with Millions of Tons of the Valuable Beauty and Personal Care Oil.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Futurism
So, I'm Moving to Mexico
Time to move My wife has struggled with serious allergies since she returned to the United States from working abroad over five years ago. The region of the country in which we currently reside is well known for being one of the most allergenic in the world, and in the past two years her allergies have taken a terrible toll on her physical and mental health. About six months ago her doctors informed us in no uncertain terms that if she remained in her current location she could expect a continued deterioration in her condition every year, and that her only chance at recovery was to move. My wife was born here, her family mostly still calls this region home and my own mother and father also live not that far from us. I moved back to this part of the country to be closer to my parents who are growing older. I had hoped to be here to help take care of them as they aged, as they had done for me so many times in my own life. Suffice to say, we both felt a move was not in the cards. However, after that declaration from the doctors we knew we had no choice. She began a new job hunt in earnest, and we together began to contemplate where we might want to relocate.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Wander
Good Guy and Bad Guy Reach Historic Accord
Author's note: Two author comments were removed from this story without my permission prior to publishing. They both explained the backstory of this story. It was rejected twice for "religious content" before finally being published. Know that this story is published in its current form under protest.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Futurism
The I'm Sorry But
Is there anything more disingenuous or less sincere then the “I’m sorry but?” What other four words (three I guess if you consider the contraction “I’m” a single word) allow one to pretend to apologize while at the same time providing the perfect segue for a lecture explaining why one does not actually need to. In fact, in many cases the “I’m sorry buttee” is in for an educating discourse on why they should be the one apologizing. Can we please, as a collective unit of humanity, agree to stop saying this? If I might suggest an alternative, simply withhold the apology until such time as one is actually sorry, and then proceed to apologize in a sincere and meaningful fashion. Save the explanations and caveats for a later date or never. If one is not actually sorry, that is OK too, simply refrain from apologizing as described in the previous sentence. That is all.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Humans
The Over-Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoporosis in Post Menopausal Women
This is what happens when legitimate research and medical science, big-pharma, high end medical equipment manufacturers, the government and private insurance industries, compliant doctors, and statistics all converge on a single topic. As you might expect the outcome is less than ideal. That is not exactly correct. It is quite ideal for all involved but one, the older woman incorrectly diagnosed with osteoporosis, told she must take medication for the remainder of her life, and instilled with a sense of fear that at any moment she might fall and fracture a hip, or a leg, or an arm.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Longevity
