The Beginning of Consciousness

One day the soul did not exist,

neither did the mind,

As for consciousness,

no-one had ever thought of it,

but where, for that matter, was thought,

in a world made up solely of warring elements

no sooner destroyed than recomposed,

for thought is a luxury of peacetime.

(Antonin Artaud, 'Van Gogh, The Man Suicided by Society')

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Typoglycemia and Predictive Coding

https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/matt.davis/cmabridge/ This article was the basis of my presentation in class, but due to the 5 minute time limit I was only able to mention a fraction of the information. The page focuses on the original "copypasta" text: Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. He breaks this down sentence by sentence, first doing a quick search to see if there's actually research being done at Cambridge University on the topic (there's not). He lists a multitude of studies that are relevant to the orders of the letters, the impact these jumbles have on reading speed, and more. The article makes a strong case that we read wo

The Brain's Fast and Slow Thinking

Our brain processes information through fast and slow thinking. During the first half of the semester we focused a lot on how we perceive information, and what is occurring in our brains as we are taking it all in. The video begins as it shows a basic contrast between fast and slow thinking. Something that would take a matter of seconds to draw a conclusion would be fast thinking, such as looking at a picture and analyzing the situation at hand. In contrast, a complex math problem would utilize slow thinking as our brains are working out the problem; it is not automatically known. The video emphasizes how our fast thinking is quick to make assumptions without looking deeply enough into a situation. It is up to us to let our conscious system (slow thinking) compensate and deeper analyze. This is seen with optical illusions. We need to use our conscious system to sort these illusions out for what they really are. Learning this importance of conscious thinking shows us that our first

Phantom Limb Syndrome and the Mirror Box

After seeing the rubber hand video, I started thinking about phantom limb syndrome which can occur after a person has an amputation. I found a video about a man who is missing an arm, yet "experiences" a sensation of pain in the place where his hand would be. The video explains how the brain does not really know that the limb is no longer there and so sends signals directed toward his hand, trying to clench it. If this man did have a hand, his muscles would send feedback to the brain telling him to slow down the motion, however since he has no hand, the brain sends more signals resulting in a positive feedback loop. The solution is a mirror box. The man places the hand he does have in a box with a mirror, and his hand is reflected so it looks as if he has two. The ultimately tricks the brain with visual feedback and relieves the pain felt. This illusion shows us how easily the brain can be deceived, and emphasizes how our sensations can be psychological.

Philosophy of Perception

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