Playing around with the famous Rene Descartes' "I think therefore I am" statement, does it suffice to say that we are brains because it's what we use to think, to decide?
This article from The Guardian by David Eagleman and Raymond Tallis offers different views as to whether who's really in charge--us or our brain.
Eagleman, a neuroscientist, first points out that the mental and physical are not separate. Everything is done through our conscious state of mind. "A person is not a single entity of a single mind: a human is built of several parts, all of which compete to steer the ship of state."
Although Tallis, former professor of geriatric medicine, agrees that everything requires a brain in some kind of working order, it doesn't mean that we are our brain. Our brain isn't the whole story of the individual. He explains that we are a community of minds and not just a stand-alone brain.
I agree that the brain is just one of the many things that makes a human but we also cannot deny the significance of the role it plays, especially in decision-making. The discussion becomes mind-boggling when they talk about culture affecting how our brain works. Is the unconscious or conscious part of our brain that dominates?
I don't think there is denying, as mentioned also in the article, that our environment affects us in a lot of ways. And in a sense it's also us who make up the environment. It is really hard to pinpoint the endpoints of this giving-receiving relationship. I see it more as a two-way rather done a one-way relationship since each affects the other and vice versa.
Although there are things we are still uncertain of, one thing is for sure: there is a lot more for us to discover about how the brain works and how big a role it really plays.
Source: Who's in Charge
Source: Who's in Charge
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