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Brain, bodily awareness, and the emergence of a conscious self: these entities and their relations are explored by Germanphilosopher and cognitive scientist Metzinger. Extensively working with neuroscientists he has come to the conclusion that, in fact, there is no such thing as a "self" -- that a "self" is simply the content of a model created by our brain - part of a virtual reality we create for ourselves. But if the self is not "real," he asks, why and how did it evolve? How does the brain construct the self? In a series of fascinating virtual reality experiments, Metzinger and his colleagues have attempted to create so-called "out-of-body experiences" in the lab, in order to explore these questions. As a philosopher, he offers a discussion of many of the latest results in robotics, neuroscience, dream and meditation research, and argues that the brain is much more powerful than we have ever imagined. He shows us, for example, that we now have the first machines that have developed an inner image of their own body -- and actually use this model to create intelligent behavior. In addition, studies exploring the connections between phantom limbs and the brain have shown us that even people born without arms or legs sometimes experience a sensation that they do in fact have limbs that are not there. Experiments like the "rubber-hand illusion" demonstrate how we can experience a fake hand as part of our self and even feel a sensation of touch on the phantom hand form the basis and testing ground for the idea that what we have called the "self" in the past is just the content of a transparent self-model in our brains. Now, as new ways of manipulating the conscious mind-brain appear on the scene, it will soon become possible to alter our subjective reality in an unprecedented manner. The cultural consequences of this, Metzinger claims, may be immense: we will need a new approach to ethics, and we will be forced to think about ourselves in a fundamentally new way. At

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Die SZ schreibt heute, 04.07.12 über Vania Apkarian, der mittels Kernspin Schmerzpatienten untersucht hat... "Bei jenen 19 Personen, deren Schmerzen am Ende des jahres anhielten, kommunizierten die sog. insula und der Nucl acc. besonders intensiv miteinander. Diese Hirnregionen sind an der Verarbeitung von Gefühlen und am Lernen beteiligt. !Womöglich! lässt das Leid jene Menschen nicht mehr los, die es besonders emotional verarbeiten. +Ute Panzenboeck und es gibt mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit eben doch 'T- und F- Menschen' ... vgl. Post von gestern vgl. http://ed.iiQii.de/gallery/Die-iiQii-Philosophie/DK_CGJ vgl. Susan Cain: http://www.geistundgegenwart.de/2011/08/still-die-bedeutung-von-introvertierten.html vgl. ed.iiQii.de/gallery/Die-iiQii-Philosophie/MartinBartonitz_saperion_de etc. Alle unsere (Patienten)-Studien beruhen immer auf einem Durchschnitt(-smensch), der gar nichts aussagt... http://www.geistundgegenwart.de/2012/01/frauen-und-manner-sind-verschieden.html

"The 18th-century philosopher David Hume (much quoted by Mr. Lehrer) didn't have an M.R.I. scanner at his disposal, but he framed the question in much the same way. His major work, "A Treatise of Human Nature," explored the ways in which habit, or "custom," rules our lives. Hume's experiments with perception - how we respond to colors, distance, numerical sets - prefigure the rigorous science of Professor Kahneman. His intent was to show us "the natural infirmity and unsteadiness both of our imagination and senses." Consciousness, like philosophy itself, stands on a "weak foundation.""

The Starry Messenger is Phase I of the Electronic History of Astronomy developed in the Whipple Museum of the History of Science and the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. This phase was directed by Dr Sachiko Kusukawa and Dr Liba Taub, and supported by funding from Trinity College, Cambridge. Dr David Chart was the Project Manager.

""Frauen fühlen sich von einer Hebamme besser betreut, wenn die etwas macht oder ihnen etwas gibt. Das ist bei einem Arzt nicht anders", sagt Regine Knobloch, beratende Hebamme beim Deutschen Hebammenverband. In Deutschland spiele auch der Wettbewerb unter Hebammen eine Rolle, sagt Knobloch. Wer in der Begleitung von Schwangeren oder der Wochenbettbetreuung keine Homöopathie, Aromatherapie oder ähnliche Verfahren anbiete, finde womöglich weniger Kundinnen. Der Einsatz alternativer Therapien sei "kongruent mit der Philosophie von Hebammen", schreibt Helen Hall etwas sperrig. Was das heißt? "Viele sehen sich in der Tradition alter Kräuterfrauen, die Hebammen früher waren", sagt Knobloch. "Gleichzeitig fechten Hebammen seit mindestens dem 18. Jahrhundert einen Macht- und Verteilungskampf mit der Ärzteschaft aus", sagt der Historiker Robert Jütt"

The Hacker Academy takes its members on an impressive journey from the hacker's perspective. THA delves into the psyche of a hacker: what they want, how they will get it - and an "it takes one to know one mentality". Our philosophy at The Hacker Academy is that members will be armed with the knowledge necessary to practice, implement, and deploy what they have learned immediately and effectively. All training modules are available 24/7 and are perfect for any skill level.

"Renegade husband and wife philosophers Pat and Paul Churchland met forty years ago in a college Plato class. Their instincts as philosophers - then and now - run outside the philosophy mainstream. Where most philosophers looked to reason and logic to apprehend the human mind, the Churchlands looked - and look - to science. There is no independent "mind", these two practically say, just the human brain, three pounds of tissue and water, firing away behind all our emotions, beliefs, actions. Consciousness itself, they say, is straight biology, a machine. Once, that sounded esoteric. Now, it's on the frontline of debate over law, soul and life."

Mind opening essay on what reality is.

For theoretical neurobiologist and author Mark Changizi, "why" has always been more interesting than "how." While many scientists focus on the mechanics of how we do what we do, his research aims to grasp the ultimate foundations underlying why we think, feel and see as we do. Guided by this philosophy, he has made important discoveries on why we see in color, why we see illusions, why we have forward-facing eyes, why letters are shaped as they are, why the brain is organized as it is, why animals have as many limbs and fingers as they do, and why the dictionary is organized as it is.

"The Turing test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. The test is an essential concept in the philosophy of artificial intelligence. Wikipedia"

"Our ethos: We help people make sense of current discussions rather than taking them back to school We stand up for scientific inquiry, free from stigma, intimidation, hysteria or censorship We want everyone, whatever their experience, to stand up for evidence in public life"

Less Wrong is an online community for people who want to apply the discovery of biases like the conjunction fallacy, the affect heuristic, and scope insensitivity in order to fix their own thinking.

"Die Gedanken sind frei? Von wegen! Werbung und Wirtschaft drängen dank Neuromarketing immer tiefer in das menschliche Hirn vor. Das Ziel: Herausfinden, was in unseren Köpfen tatsächlich passiert, wenn wir konsumieren."

"Ich eröffnete meinen Vortrag mit der Ankündigung, dass ich ihnen zur „Evolution der Religion" die Überlegungen eines Theologen vorstellen würde. Skepsis und Entsetzen machte sich auf den Gesichtern breit; die meisten Biologinnen und Biologen haben von Religionsgelehrten selten Gutes gehört. Doch dann ließ ich hinter mir das Bild des Gelehrten aufscheinen - und die Zurückhaltung, die im Raum quasi physisch zu spüren war, ging in Überraschung und schließlich Gelächter über. Denn hinter und über mir schaute niemand Geringeres in den Saal als der Begründer der Evolutionsbiologie selbst: Charles Darwin! Ja, es ist wahr. In den meisten Kurzbiografien wird Charles Darwin als „Naturforscher" vorgestellt. Und bis heute treffe ich auf großes Erstaunen, wenn ich darauf aufmerksam mache, dass der bedeutendste Wissenschaftler des 19. Jahrhunderts einen einzigen Studienabschluss erworben hatte - den eines Bachelors in christlich-anglikanischer Theologie! Darwin schnitt als zehntbester seines Jahrgangs in Cambridge ab und wäre beinahe Landpfarrer geworden"

Read Newton's writings as he intended them All our texts can also be read in normalized versions that incorporate all Newton's revisions and corrections.

General semantics is a system that generalizes the principles and methods of modern science to all areas of human activity. Its principles and methods can be utilized to enhance our creative and critical thinking processes, and thus achieve better management of our day-to-day activities and our relationships.

" Of course, skeptics hope that their efforts aid in advancing science education.1 In spite of these efforts, survey data from several sources suggests that paranormal belief and pseudoscientific thinking continue to be commonplace.2 Skeptics often use these findings to reinforce arguments for more science education. Their argument is based upon the largely untested assumption that increased science knowledge reduces the number of paranormal beliefs an individual holds. However, this assumption may not be valid. Andrew Ede recently argued that science education may do little to raise the level of rational thinking and may, in fact, actually deter it!"

"Formal education must adapt to these changes, taking advantage of new strengths in visual-spatial intelligence and compensating for new weaknesses in higher-order cognitive processes: abstract vocabulary, mindfulness, reflection, inductive problem solving, critical thinking, and imagination. These develop through the use of an older technology, reading, which, along with audio media such as radio, also stimulates imagination. Informal education therefore requires a balanced media diet using each technology's specific strengths in order to develop a complete profile of cognitive skills. "