A THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE Part Two (Identity)

by David Turell , Saturday, July 07, 2018, 19:39 (2119 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: You keep forgetting that in my concept the soul must use those complex genius networks to produce genius thought

dhw: You keep forgetting that in your concept of dualism it is the soul that initiates thought, that thought precedes changes in the brain (the illiterate women), that the soul uses the brain to acquire information and to give material expression to its thoughts, and you have consistently failed to tell us what other function the brain performs in the thought process.

dhw: I think pre-sapiens and sapiens have undergone a process of ever increasing learning, as one generation builds upon the discoveries and inventions of its predecessors.

DAVID: To the limits of the complexity of its brain networks

dhw: But the brain is constantly complexifying as it has to cope with new thoughts! And it apparently discards cells and connections in order to keep complexification within the existing capacity (= shrinkage). If, as you constantly agree, the soul initiates thought, the limits of the brain relate only to the amount of information it can supply (e.g. we cannot see the boundaries of our universe) and the extent to which it can implement our thoughts (I can imagine flying unaided, but my brain/body can’t implement the concept). What other limitations does the passive, recipient brain impose?

It is limited by the complexity of its networks, as shown by genius brains/

DAVID: My computer has and does produce bad results when it is sick and I have to get the IT guy on the phone to straighten it out.

Exactly! It does not make you think sick thoughts! One up for dualism. But drugs and diseases do make you think sick thoughts. One up for materialism. Hence the dichotomy which you refuse to recognize.

DAVID: I do not accept how you relate the soul to the brain because you are approaching dualism in an entirely different way. The soul having to use the material brain is not materialism. The brain thinking totally on its own is materialism, no soul involved.

dhw: Of course the soul having to use the material brain is not materialism! The concept of the soul is dualistic! The dualist’s soul uses the brain for information and for expression, and you continue to ignore my question: what other functions does the brain perform in the thought process?

It provides information from its sensory inputs, as you know, and it provides the complexity of networks for advanced thought.