• Chris@feddit.uk
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    7 months ago

    When I think about how I move my limbs my brain starts melting.

    You think about moving your arm, but you don’t actually think about it, you just do it, so how do you move it without thinking that’s what you’re doing?

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Know what’ll really bake your noodle? An MRI will show your brain firing to move your arm before your “higher” brain function sends the signal.

    Your brain fires and then sends an executive summary to the homunculus behind your eyeballs saying, “Good job! ‘You’ moved your arm!” And you believe in free will?

    You think that’s air you’re breathing now?

    • novibe@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      “You” really are just an observer of biological programming playing out. Even your “higher” brain functions are still being observed by someone. They are a response to the more “base” biology, but they are still programmed responses.

      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        “You” is an incredibly tricky word to define. Is your body you? Is your brain you? Is the set of chemical reactions we call consciousness you? Is only the subset of that set of chemical reactions that’s capable of saying “I am me” you?

        I stuck my arm out towards a cat today and it scratched me. What me did it scratch? If my arm gets amputated because that scratch gets infected, have I lost a part of myself, or have I simply lost some thing that belongs to me?