Simon Conway Morris on animal intelligence (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, January 17, 2017, 18:29 (2649 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: What part of “we” decides and learns to use it?[/i]

DAVID: My brain is part of me and I feel I am inside my body. H. habilis probably had the same feelings and used his newly developed brain to develop new thoughts and concepts.

dhw: We have re-entered the mysterious realm of identity. Yes of course your brain is part of you, but that does not explain which part of you takes decisions to use your brain in a certain way. The question is raised again in the article you have posted on “Instinct coded in the brain”.
DAVID: Mice can be made predatory by stimulating the Amygdala:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/48000/title/Scientists-Activate-P...

We all know that by messing with the brain, we can change a person’s identity (think drugs and disease). So are the materialists right, and “we” are our brain? If so, “we learn to use our brain” means our brain decides and learns to use our brain. If the dualists are right, then the brain is not the maker but the receiver of decisions, in which case the decider, the learner, the “I”, is not the brain. Then the dualist cannot argue that the brain is the source of consciousness.

I don't get tangled up in all of your suppositions. My brain develops as I do in infancy. I control my brain, which it allows. In other words I use a part of my brain with my consciousness to make brain decisions. My consciousness is received by my brain for my use. All based on NDE research.