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MEL's picture

  This week I found the

Submitted by MEL on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 9:29pm.

 

This week I found the discussion about Dickinson and Descartes very interesting. I believe that the evidence supports Dickinson’s claim which says that behavior is controlled by the mind. As Professor Grobstein mentioned, pharmaceuticals can control a person’s behavior. So if a person has an immaterial mind, then how can it be controlled by material drugs? Although the evidence supports the fact that behavior is controlled by the mind, I find this notion very discomforting. To think that the brain and its chemical reactions solely control my being makes me feel like I have no personal control over myself. I find Descartes’ theory much more comforting because it makes me feel like I am more than my brain. I have a mind that controls my actions and my thoughts.  I choose to believe in Descartes’ theory because it is comforting to me.

I also found the idea of loopy science very interesting. At first, it was hard for me to accept this new idea of the scientific method. How could something that has been taught to me since I was seven be incorrect?  I have eventually come around to accept the idea of loopy science. It allows for new observations and ultimately creates a less wrong version of science.

 

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