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Nathan's Reviews > Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain
Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain
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Ignore my bias of working in a body-centered cognitive neuroscience laboratory (whose nascence was likely inspired by researchers such as Demasio), but Demasio's theory resonates as a particularly well-informed "big-level" brain theory. I've read a number of others who attempt to explain away a lot of the mysteries of the brain by big-level theories, but Demasio turns out to build one of the more compelling set of explanations based mostly on evidence from his years of research in dissociation studies in neurology. Where others fail by skirting the issues of how neural structures and organization can lead to self consciousness and the link between mind and body, Demasio succeeds. His message is simple: we must not forget the entire biological organism when analyzing the brain.
The fallout from this main thesis is that proper "cool-headed reasoning", decision making, and logical thought is influenced by emotion, and vice versa. This symbiosis theme continues as we are taught to remember that the brain is part of the body, and the body is part of the brain. Forgetting the strong coupling between the two is denying the reality of the situation. A brain in a vat is no brain at all.
Stylistically, Demasio writes an engaging tale. The book is meant for a general audience, but I guess that most people unfamiliar with the brain structures, competing theories, and the general debate in philosophy of mind will find the content a bit heavy and must re-read certain passages. The book sags a bit in the middle (editor please!), but Demasio's theories of self to be found in the closing chapters are well worth the wait.
I won't delve too much into the implications for neuroscience, but Demasio's claim only makes our task to describe the brain all the more difficult. He sides with high-level theorists, pointing out that no matter how well we understand the constituent units of our neurological system, it is not sufficient to describe behavior until we account for the whole picture. This means that every high-level experiment needs to understand that behavioral results can be not only task-related but also influenced by background emotion, something difficult to measure and control.
Bref: He's successfully left me with some new ideas and has made a compelling thesis. Congrats.
The fallout from this main thesis is that proper "cool-headed reasoning", decision making, and logical thought is influenced by emotion, and vice versa. This symbiosis theme continues as we are taught to remember that the brain is part of the body, and the body is part of the brain. Forgetting the strong coupling between the two is denying the reality of the situation. A brain in a vat is no brain at all.
Stylistically, Demasio writes an engaging tale. The book is meant for a general audience, but I guess that most people unfamiliar with the brain structures, competing theories, and the general debate in philosophy of mind will find the content a bit heavy and must re-read certain passages. The book sags a bit in the middle (editor please!), but Demasio's theories of self to be found in the closing chapters are well worth the wait.
I won't delve too much into the implications for neuroscience, but Demasio's claim only makes our task to describe the brain all the more difficult. He sides with high-level theorists, pointing out that no matter how well we understand the constituent units of our neurological system, it is not sufficient to describe behavior until we account for the whole picture. This means that every high-level experiment needs to understand that behavioral results can be not only task-related but also influenced by background emotion, something difficult to measure and control.
Bref: He's successfully left me with some new ideas and has made a compelling thesis. Congrats.
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Descartes' Error.
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Reading Progress
July 19, 2010
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July 19, 2010
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August 8, 2010
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Jacob
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Aug 17, 2010 07:27AM
I actually got in trouble for disputing Descartes w/ideas like this in a philosophy class I took in college.
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Not too surprising. It's still very popular in academic circles to treat the brain with a special status. Demasio makes a point that Decartes made many obvious errors that he could have attacked, but this philosophical concept that the mind and body are two different entities is responsible for the largest impact on shaping modern biology's misconception of the brain.
Even modern scientists afford a special status to the brain, as if it is the independent controller of body. But really, it's as much of a slave to the body as the body is to the brain.
Jacob wrote: "I actually got in trouble for disputing Descartes w/ideas like this in a philosophy class I took in college."
So can we just call it a wrap for dualism, then? Cuz I am tired of that bitch.
Update: it's 2017 now, and dualism is stronger than ever.Zach wrote: "So can we just call it a wrap for dualism, then? Cuz I am tired of that bitch."
We are not thinking machines who feel, we are feeling machines who think.
