Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

Rica Dela Cruz's picture

I really like the idea of

I really like the idea of having an "I-function" within our brain. It provides people with awareness and a sense of self. The fact that Christopher Reeves could not feel the pain in his leg and feel his leg move shows he has a sense of self because he was unaware of himself moving his leg. Even though "he" cannot move, "he" still has thoughts and is aware of those thoughts. I feel that the "I-function" is the most important part of the brain and without it, there would be no point in living because it gives us who we are. Even if we are still able to act without the existence of the "I-function", how is it worth living when we are not aware or conscious of what we are doing? It would be as if we were robots. 

I think the problem with this "I-function" is that only the individual is able to know if it is still functioning or not. No one else is able to know if another person is aware if no action is produced to communicate that they are conscious. It makes me think about people in vegetated states and why there is this debate about whether people are conscious or not when they are in this state. 

 I think that the movie "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" provides a great example of the "I-function" in the way it was filmed. (It was really good and everyone should see it.) The way it was shot was that the audience is able to look through the eyes of the character who was paralyzed from head to toe. We, the audience, are able to hear his thoughts and experience his consciousness. This showed me that an "I-function" does exist and even though the character was not connected to the rest of his body, he could still exist. 

 

Reply

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
2 + 0 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.