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Lyndsey C's picture

a lot of questions!

I really enjoyed our discussion on Thursday because it cleared up a discrepancy I was struggling with earlier in the semester. so if the I-funtion is the conscious part of the mind, what is the unconscious? Are we categorizing actions into the processes carried out by the I-function? I am trying to piece together the puzzle in such a way that I can further support my earlier notion that the mind is a separate entity which works together with the body. Maybe I missed the boat, but did we assign a location of the I-function within the brain? Maybe it can't be located, since the brain isnt exactly specialized in such a way, but I guess what I'm trying to figure out is what happens to people who are in a coma. what happens to the I-function? can we ever really know? how much of the I-function is compromised during a coma? many people have described that loved ones who are in a coma still seem to be aware of certain things that are going on in the room or that they are "listening" to people who visit them in the hopsital. what about people who's prognosis is improved when they have people read to them when they are in a coma? does this have something to do with the I-function (the self) and motivation? animals lack an i-function, right? but what makes them aware of their separateness from others if they don't even cognize that they possess a self? and what about domesticated animals who's sensitivity to others seems to be heightened? how can they do this without an i-function?

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