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axle2152 Wrote:@meridannight I don't believe that but it does seem that a lot of studies on the brain are suggesting that free will is an illusion. That we've made our choices before we realize, consciously, that we have. So are my thoughts really independent or is it a result or the "state" of my brain and body...say the arrangement of neurons, the hormones....what I had for breakfast? Speaking of brains, there was a case where a guy had some sort of condition where whatever the cause essentially left him with with 10% of his brain, he was however able to live a normal life, had a job and a wife and despite him having only 10% of his brain he still had an IQ of 75, I mean not all that impressive but considering all that pretty phenomenal. Anyway, I think it is a question that is really hard for science to answer, consciousness is pretty complex and even with modern technology we still end up with "I think therefore I am.
Free will is a different topic altogether, and that's not what I was talking about in emotions vs rationality up there. (Emotions are not part of free will, that's always been my stance anyway). It is true that some of our decisions happen before we become conscious of the fact, but it doesn't necessarily abolish free will. And it's a very involved topic, if I wrote a proper reply it would be a whole page again.
I just wanted to ask you to quote the case with 10% of the brain left? And when did that happen? During development or in adult life? If you remove 90% of brain matter in an adult, the result will not be a relatively normal life. 10% cannot include prefrontal cortex, visual cortex, parietal and temporal lobes at the same time, which means normal function will be significantly impaired. So I'd like to see that case.
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axle2152 Wrote:@meridannight From what I remember this happened to him I suppose as a child or teenager...Supposesdly he went to the doctor over severe headaches, took x-rays and the doctor found that the majority of his brain was missing...
I did find the article, not 90% but the article quotes 50-75%, still a lot of brain to be missing...
https://www.newscientist.com/article...hocks-doctors/
Yeah, the fact that it happened in childhood is the reason he retained a relatively normal function. Your brain is still developing and it is much better able to compensate for trauma/illness then than when you're older. If a similar thing had happened in adulthood, things would be very different.
This was a case of the enlargement of the ventricles at the expense of frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. Which is to say he still had all those different brain areas just reduced in size, which is very different than saying he had just 10% of the brain left.
This is why quoting actual studies/cases is important.
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[MENTION=21405]meridannight[/MENTION] I was going from memory. I don't always have time to go through a do tons of research about everything I post.
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axle2152 Wrote:@meridannight I was going from memory. I don't always have time to go through a do tons of research about everything I post.
I wasn't accusing you or anything. I know one way the human mind is programmed to remember things is by how exceptional/shocking the information is. This was a pretty shocking case, after all.
That's why I ask about the specifics myself before I believe cases like that.
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unless you wanna switch off your testosterone then your gonna be led by your dick - its a male trait to keep the species going - im sure some intellectual could shoot holes in that theory but im sticking to it
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matty7 Wrote:unless you wanna switch off your testosterone then your gonna be led by your dick - its a male trait to keep the species going - im sure some intellectual could shoot holes in that theory but im sticking to it
It's not possible to denounce this intellectually. The only people I've seen arguing that men don't have to be influenced by their cock are women. Which for obvious reasons doesn't carry any weight.
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