Related link: http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/63/Were_Cracking_the_Neural_Code_the_Brains_Se…
"Chances are you have never heard of the neural code. And yet, from both a practical and philosophical perspective, the neural code is the most important remaining scientific mystery. Analogous to the machine code of a digital computer, the neural code is the software, set of rules, syntax, that transforms electrical pulses in the brain into perceptions, memories, decisions. A solution to the neural code could – in principle – give us almost unlimited power over our psyches, because we could monitor and manipulate brain cells with exquisite precision by speaking to them in their own private language."
If we ever discover a human soul or other postulated independent consciousness, this line of research will not pan out, as the orders to the organism will not be coming from neural code. However, under the brain-as-a-system-bus theory, if such a soul exists then this research could also help find it, as the location of a supposed soul-to-brain interface would inevitably show up.
Can we corner consciousness with this line of research?
Read More Entries by Damien Stolarz.
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