faetal on 23/9/2016 at 23:43
it amounts to the same thing. Permutations of electrical impulses in the human brain. If you have evidence of more, linky linky.
To be more simple though - the human body is only capable of around 18 - 21 different types of sensory input (depending on classification strictness), so it is literally not possible for a human brain to imagine anything which is not described within the parameters of those inputs. The most abstract of human thought is still bounded by those flavours. Its make for many combinations yes, but not infinite.
Dilettante wisdom always sounds like dilettante wisdom except to the dilettante.
Vivian on 23/9/2016 at 23:54
Right, just in case anyone wants to veer off into something more interesting, who knows what about this neural mass we've all got in our guts? Anyone got any leads on potential functions yet? I mean, it makes as much sense as any other concentration of information processing tissue in evolutionary terms, you do shitloads of your interaction with the outside world in your gut, and for locomotion it's also a massive (and horribly lossy) accelerometer that it would make sense to wire up pretty heavily. I've heard it's active but I've not heard any ideas as to in what way.
hedonicflux~~ on 23/9/2016 at 23:55
It's some people's jobs to do the experiments and work out the mathematics. It's my job to collect that information and try to integrate it into a theory that makes sense to me. If I'm not free to do that, please inform me. I was of the understanding that humans are independent thinkers who can come up with their own formulations without adibing by any particular set of assumptions. You can work out why the assumptions are false. You don't have to just take them as not granted.
When the apes started making the first tools and constructing things with them, and using language to communicate, the other apes must have thought they were doing some kind of magic. Their brains were expanding to facillitate greater capacities. That's what my brain is doing now (yes, feel free to call bullshit.) But don't allow yourself to be put off by what you don't understand.
Vivian on 23/9/2016 at 23:57
Like you have a job.
hedonicflux~~ on 24/9/2016 at 00:02
Quote Posted by Vivian
Right, just in case anyone wants to veer off into something more interesting, who knows what about this neural mass we've all got in our guts? Anyone got any leads on potential functions yet? I mean, it makes as much sense as any other concentration of information processing tissue in evolutionary terms, you do shitloads of your interaction with the outside world in your gut, and for locomotion it's also a massive (and horribly lossy) accelerometer that it would make sense to wire up pretty heavily. I've heard it's active but I've not heard any ideas as to in what way.
I know quite a bit about the mind-gut connection from experience. A couple years ago I developed irritable bowel syndrome from unbearable stress and anxiety. I read up on it and it made sense to me. The physical symptoms were an effect of my mindstate. When I'd get stressed, I'd get bloated and have sharp pains in my abdomen. I learned how to regulate my cortisol levels and what to do to stay healthy and functional in times of crisis.
faetal on 24/9/2016 at 00:18
Quote Posted by hedonicflux~~
It's my job to collect that information and try to integrate it into a theory that makes sense to me. If I'm not free to do that, please inform me.
It's your
job? What is the driving question? What are your qualifications? If it's just a hobby or an enthusiasm, fine. No problem with that - being inquisitive and challenging conventional ideas is GREAT. However, if you can't back it up and are dismissive of actual expertise then you are just one of many people who want to write their own specious version of things and call anyone who disagrees dull. If I were professing my own (admittedly limited) ideas about neuroscience somewhere and a neuroscience PhD were to correct me on that, I would be thankful that I had been corrected on a subject I was enthusiastic about by someone who knew more. What I wouldn't do would be to try to find teleological ways to reject this additional information just because it meant that my cool theory was somehow wrong. An open mind is one which knows how to adapt to information, not just one which treats itself like an echo chamber.
faetal on 24/9/2016 at 00:23
Quote Posted by hedonicflux~~
I know quite a bit about the mind-gut connection from experience. A couple years ago I developed irritable bowel syndrome from unbearable stress and anxiety. I read up on it and it made sense to me. The physical symptoms were an effect of my mindstate. When I'd get stressed, I'd get bloated and have sharp pains in my abdomen. I learned how to regulate my cortisol levels and what to do to stay healthy and functional in times of crisis.
That doesn't really speak about the potential neurological functions of the gut. All I know (so far) is that there is good reason to believe that the many folds of the intestine, due to containing a fine network of neural tissue are potentially capable of complex neurological circuitry. Some reading around may enlighten, but it seems highly probable that the gut may have function as a kind of auxiliary brain by some emergent mechanism arising from there being enough complexity.
Vivian on 24/9/2016 at 00:47
Auxiliary seems wrong - neural stuff is really expensive to make and run. It wouldn't be there unless it did something important. You reckon it has any role in consciousness? Or is it just running the gut?
Vivian on 24/9/2016 at 00:50
By consciousness I pretty much just mean brain stuff other than homeostasis and metabolic gubbins, I'm not a brain scientist, soz.
Queue on 24/9/2016 at 02:37
Quote Posted by hedonicflux~~
I leave my bedroom often. To do work, play poker tournaments, hang out at coffee shops, and do grassroots activism. I'm happy enough. I'm not looking for happiness. I'm looking for fulfillment.
I think I'd rather hang myself than endure the cliché of hanging out at a coffee shop, blogging and looking for fulfillment. You ain't gonna find fulfillment at the bottom of a 'triple, venti, soy, no foam latte' with an extra shot of cum while listening to the next Feist wanna-be drone on and on and on with soulful inflection while poorly strumming a guitar. The only person finding fulfillment in one of those places is the phony barista making cash off all the rubes leaving tips in the jar that says, you guessed it, "Tips" for doing nothing more than taking your cash for overpriced coffee.
