Christof Koch - Can Brain Explain Mind? (Part 2/2)

What is it about the brain that enables many scientists to claim brain can fully explain mind? And what is it about such neuroscientific explanations of mental experience that some philosophers reject? What seems obvious to some—the purely physical explanation of the mind—seems impossible to others.



Christof Koch is an American neuroscientist best known for his work on the neural bases of consciousness.


Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[johnayres]

Harrison Ford can do a good German accent.

[johnreder]

Harrison Ford sure knows a lot about the brain!

[peterpanino]

Christof Koch talks about those things that are essential for the further development of humanity. Please more from him!

[reversefulfillment]

Christof kind of looks like a younger Harrison Ford. Remember the scene from Indiana Jones mixing with the German soldiers to retrieve the holy grail?

[WizardSkyth]

Sure, of course brain can explain mind. But it still does not explain the entity experiencing mind.

[jamesruscheinski]

What is the evidence of sub or unconscious influence on planning and creativity?

[johnyharris]

We have an innate, accurate ability to detect consciousness in things. We only ever detect it directly within our skulls, and then indirectly belonging to other living things.

Every feature of life evolved from a rudimentary instance of that feature.
Consciousness is a feature of life.
Consciousness evolved from a rudimentary instance of consciousness.

[susanmaddison]

Unconscious, subconscious, or semi-conscious? That these information processings and thoughts are not clear in the conscious minds does not mean that they are fully unconscious and not vaguely perceived by the conscious mind, even prior to some of the output getting clearly received there.

[WizardSkyth]

Sure, brain can explain mind. It still can't explain the entity who experiences mind, and resorting to circular logic of brain/body experiencing itself is as goofy as circular logic

[jamesruscheinski]

Does the unconscious humungulus have a role in dreams and brain activity that happens before conscious awareness?

[JungleJargon]

No physical thing can make or direct itself.

[WizardSkyth]

Panpsychism ? Mineral matter (of the brain?) experiencing qualia ?

[lesliecunliffe]

Message for Robert Lawrence Kuhn: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” (Einstein) Mind-in-brain is nonsense on stilts. Mind is always embodied and embedded.

[renubhalla]

Susan Blackmore in her book The Meme Machine says that human actions and behaviours are controlled by the contents in the consciousness.The replicators including genes and memes are blind replicators.The replication of genes and memes is governed by evolutionary algorithm.v.k.bhalla

[lenaadamopoulos]

its impossible for me to concentrate listening to his voice, rare...

[JungleJargon]

We can see what spirits do which no physical thing can do. The evidence of our Creator is everywhere. Not even a speck of matter can account for itself.

[oscarluisvermat]

nobody has been able to explain our subjective experiences (qualia) that David Chalmers called the hard problem of consciousness. He just referred to the correlates. That's all.

[NeverTalkToCops]

Urine explains kidneys, brain explains mind. Ok? OKAY?

[DavidGatto]

No, but spirit can understand Brain and what we have done to the spirit to oppress it so we can call it mind. I spent many years at UCLA, amazed at the crackpot explanations designed to attempt to create AI. During my time their in the Psychology department, it was a relentless push to focus all talent and attention to this problem. Sounds like a problem to me.

[habtamumanaseb]

We a born as conscious being but not reasoning being. Reasoning is learned but it causes our behaviour