I've been doing some thinking over the last few weeks, and I've decided a few things—I am exercising whatever free will have
First, I am no longer interested in describing this predictable human atrocity or that one. I have done that lately out of feelings of overwhelming disgust, a typical human emotion. Political corruption? Destruction of the biosphere? Grotesque income and wealth inequality everywhere? Grinding, hopeless poverty in the "wealthy nations" (United States and Europe)? Partying Davos elites planning our future?
We all know about these ongoing human-caused catastrophes, and, predictably, they are all getting worse in what is now a global economy. Does more need to be said about how disgusting all this is?
No. Fuck that.
The only subject now worth my time is trying to explain how the human animal functions. In so doing, one attempts to explain to other "conscious" people why the human condition is basically a crock of shit. The few people who "get" that are the only ones worth talking to. Everybody else is part of the problem.
Toward that end, I would like to introduce the work of cognitive neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga, who heads the SAGE Center for the Study of Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Gazzaniga is the author of several books, most importantly “Who’s in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain,” published in 2011. The long and the short of it is that there is no free will and there is no ghost in the machine (Cartesian dualism, the "homunculus" inside your head).
Gazzaniga's work with split brain patients reveals the existence of something he calls "The Interpreter," which turns out to be the brain's storyteller (bullshitter). It is located in the left hemisphere. You can read about the interpreter here and here. There is a long video (part III of the Gazzaniga's Gifford Lectures) devoted to this subject.
For those of you who want the short version, there is a review of Gazzaniga's take on free will issue at the Daily Beast. I'll skip the Flatland bullshit and quote the part that matters.
Free will—do we have it or not?
... Today, in the hot field of neuroscience, the trendy view, Michael Gazzaniga writes, is the “bleak view.”
The "trendy" view? Gazzaniga's view is "trendy" only if scientific work counts for exactly nothing, which is the dominant Flatland perspective.
Everything we do, think, feel, say, or fail to do is determined by our neural circuitry. The brain reigns supreme, tugging the mind along in its wake.
“The underlying contention,” Gazzaniga writes, "is that free will is just happy talk."
... He devotes the first half of his book to laying out the massive collection of neuroscientific evidence showing that we have absolutely no idea what’s going on in our own brains—let alone control it.
Yes, Happy Talk.
I am embarrassed that I discovered Gazzaniga's work only a few weeks ago. But I am also encouraged because his findings help me flesh out my Flatland theory of how the mind functions, particularly some of the things I laid out in Part III, where I talk about the cognitive origins of bullshit.
I am working now on an essay about consciousness, free will, Gazzaniga's work and related subjects. I hope to publish it in the near future.
In the videos below, bear in mind that Gazzaniga's interpretation of his work and my own views about it do not necessarily coincide.
Very interesting. Quoting from the Daily Beast review piece: The funny thing, however, is that the stories the left brain produces are largely if not entirely wrong. And later: ...we have no idea what’s going on, but we need to tell ourselves otherwise.
Personally, I would change 'funny' to 'hilarious' in that first statement.
I start to lose interest in Gazzaniga when he says, “The issue is that there is no scientific reason not to hold people accountable and responsible.” Huh? How does this follow from his left brain / right brain research findings? He appears to be straying from good science into a Flatland comfort zone, so as to avoid an uncomfortable conclusion.
I am so looking forward to your next essay.
Posted by: Oliver | 01/29/2015 at 04:55 PM