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Friday, March 28, 2008

Neuroscience and Arts: But HOW does meat think?

If you are not a materialist (but especially if you are), you must see this wonderful little film clip directed by Stephen O'Regan, and based on a short story by Terry Bisson.

Some (apparently) non-corporeal aliens come to Earth. Sitting in a booth in a small town greasy spoon, they are shocked, just shocked, by the fact that people are made of "meat".

Our brains are "meat." The aliens can't imagine how "meat" communicates. So ... how does meat think?

Don't miss the beautiful sequence where, while the aliens puzzle, in the next booth some very average people are celebrating their friend's excellent card castle (a completely useless activity that greatly exercises the mind and fine motor skills).

Note: In The Spiritual Brain: A neuroscientist's case for the existence of the soul, Mario offers a psychoneural translation hypothesis - how "mentalese" translates into "neuronese".

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