Consciousness: only half brain needed (General)

by dhw, Monday, November 25, 2019, 13:28 (1615 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: this degree of adaptive plasticity comes built in. And note full consciousness with a half brain. Consciousness is not related to a whole substrate. it seems any portion of the brain will have it. Egnor has noted fully functional folks with a sliver of rind for a brain. We know substances that alter brain function alter consciousness. But a normally functioning half a brain is all that is needed. Obviously the brain does not make consciousness, which is Egnor's point.

dhw: Although I remain neutral on the subject of materialism v dualism, I am mystified as to how you (and Egnor) can use these cases to argue against materialism. The proposal is clearly that the remaining cells cooperate to compensate for the loss, thereby “taking on the…visual tasks” or the “task of processing smells”. This suggests that the cells of the brain know precisely what they are doing (= they are conscious). How does that “obviously” mean they don’t "make consciousness?

DAVID: There is another side to this discussion. Have you forgotten that split brain folks also have one intact consciousness. We both agree the brain neurons know how to change brain connections. That is built in and of no issue. You seize on smell and vision to support your theory and I am discussing only at the level of immaterial whole consciousness with parts of a brain always able to produce it. I'm with Egnor and the evidence. How does that happen if consciousness comes only from a material brain? Unless you can define your materialism differently, you make no sense.

It is not my theory. I remain neutral. However, materialism argues that the source of consciousness is the material cells, and if parts of a brain (i.e. material cells) “are always able to produce it”, that means that cells are always able to produce it! You could hardly state a clearer case for materialism! And the article shows that if parts of the brain lose the ability to see or hear, the remaining parts of the brain use their consciousness to cooperate in taking on the new tasks.