Some questions & comments.
Klaus Krippendorff wrote:
> i am with you on this,
> john,
> the influence goes both ways. just as i would oppose the reductionism of
> everything to the activity of the brain so would i oppose explaining as a
> social mechanism, without consideration of the human body, not just the
> brain, but also emotions.
Are you saying emotions don't come from the brain?
> let me respond to an earlier claim about the wiring of the human brain. i
> forgot who talked about studying the wiring of the human brain. from all we
> know, the brain is organizationally closed. it wires itself in the presence
> of an otherwise unknowable environment. it is a self-organizing system that
> when interacting with other self-organizing systems creates artifacts that
> are the product of these interactions and constantly rewiring of the brains
> involved. the remarkable fact of the brain is that it does not come wired,
> it wires itself.
>
> klaus
I don't think the environment in which the brain wires itself is
unknowable. The brain wires itself based on certain limits and
capabilities that are physically rooted. Neurons behave only in certain
ways. Neurobiology has begun to understand the basics of how sensory
data impacts the wiring. We don't know it all yet - maybe we never will
- but we are learning more and more all the time.
I agree that the specifics of a particular brain wiring itself will be
in response to interactions with other brains that are rewiring
themselves, as well as its own feedback.
But I don't find this 'remarkable'. It seems perfectly natural and
consistent with how all kinds of other things self-organise. Indeed, I
would find it remarkable if the brain did come pre-wired.
Cheers.
Fil
--
Prof. Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Ryerson University Tel: 416/979-5000 x7749
350 Victoria St. Fax: 416/979-5265
Toronto, ON email: [log in to unmask]
M5B 2K3 Canada http://deed.ryerson.ca/~fil/
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