The Astonishing Brain

A few nights ago, I was in the audience at an event (this) for the public who were offered the chance to ask questions of a panel of neuroscientists. Now the questions varied, but listening to them, it seemed to me that many of them stemmed from a philosophical confusion, one that also affects many neuroscientists. This confusion is one that I've tackledbefore, but hearing neuroscience talked about from the perspective of normal people helped me see it more clearly. So: We have two pictures in our heads. One of these is called 'the brain', the other we call a 'person'/'soul'/'mind', or more commonly we just say I, you, he and she. These two pictures are very different - 'Brains' are simple, mechanical, static, measurable, physical, shallow, sparse. The visual image is of a smallish, yellowy-grey lump. 'People' are complex, organic, dynamic, unquantifiable, immaterial, deep, rich. The visual image is ...