My Thoughts: Jan08

This is my first true post on the Space Collective. First of all, I want to state how much of an inspiration this place is, to see essays, theories, videos and photos that are great works by themselves but also spark more work to be created. Second, of which the bulk of this entry is to be dedicated to, are some of my opinions and ideas regarding various issues that I’ve seen either in the Space Collective or in my everyday readings and life.

I will elaborate on each of these snippets of ideas in longer, more detailed and evidence-supported entries in the future, this here acts as an introduction from me to the Space Collective and also as a reminder for myself as to what I need to continue thinking about and what I was thinking at a certain point of time.



Trans-humanism:
Since we have started to mold the environments we live in, we are no longer as subject to the temperaments of nature as we once were. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, but besides the point.

Fact is, we are no longer progressing because nature is pushing us to, but because we can and want to. Sure, there are some factors which still affect us, but a good number of the population are now more affected by man-made environments and actions than nature.

For this reason, humans will be progressing far beyond anything that could happen in nature. Genes can be altered in the embryonic stages to modify the capabilities of that person (to a certain extent), machinery will soon be compatible to humans, much like prosthetic limbs, and humans will continue to improve in this manner.

With such “artificial” and “unnatural” improvements of human beings, there will inevitably be conflict between those who decide to stay and those who decide to improve. Kurt Vonnegut’s story, “Unready to Wear” discusses what might happen to a society when humans are given a choice to be fundamentally changed.

Staying in Touch with Nature

Organic Design. Taking nature as an inspiration for architecture, design and lifestyle in order to stay in touch with our biological origins.



We need to respect nature, or at least what is left of it. Companies, organizations and even individuals have to be held responsible for their actions which might harm the environment and nature. Some cities are now free of trees, soon entire countries will be, unless something is done.

Living our lives so as to make the least impact on the environment is another way to stay in touch with our origins. It all boils down to respect. Like a person, respect can bridge gaps and can also allow for new relationships.

To stay in touch with nature, we need to treasure it, to respect it and to protect it.


Language and Consciousness

My previous entry was an article I had found regarding the role of self-talk in consciousness.

I’ve been reading up on this topic, since I have an interest in linguistics and the mind as a whole. I do not claim to be an expert on this subject, I am merely stating my views.

Language, to me, is a great invention. It is so much more than the growling of dogs, the cawing of crows or the roaring of tigers. Language is the tool by which human beings can express their consciousness to others; the consciousness being thoughts, opinions, predictions and everything that goes on in the mind. It is what allows people to think and reflect. Trying to think without words is like forcing yourself to go to sleep; it cannot be done consciously. At least, in my experience, whenever I am consciously in thought, words are what pours through my mind. While imagining objects or situations, images are used, but for most part, conscious thinking is based around language.

Language assists the development of a consciousness. If humans were never to invent language, I would think that we would not be as developed as we are now, in terms of understanding ourselves and contemplating our existence.


The Future

The future is in communication. In fact, the future has been going on for years, in the form of the Internet.

Connectivity and collaboration will the basis for developments in the future.

End

This is it for this entry. It isn’t perfect, my ideas may not be right, and the facts might not be there, but this is a collection of my views on a variety of subjects.

Feel free to disagree or to elaborate on anything I’ve written.

In addition, if anyone has any reading recommendations or anything to point me in the right direction for research, I would be grateful!

Look for more detailed entries in the near future.

Sun, Jan 27, 2008  Permanent link
Categories: thoughts, transhumanism, nature, organic design

"Inner Speech and Conscious Experience"

Inner speech and conscious experience
by Alain Morin

Some unfortunate people suffer from brain damage that selectively interrupts inner speech. It’s as if they were under the influence of this imaginary drug. Scott Moss, a psychologist who was victim of a stroke, lost the ability to use language.


He was able to recuperate and related his experience:

“I had lost the ability to converse with others … and to engage in self-talk. In other words, I did not have the ability to think about the future—to worry, to anticipate or perceive it—at least not with words. Thus for the first four or five weeks after hospitalization I simply existed.”

What this quotation suggests is that inner speech makes us aware of what we are experiencing. Moss, because he was unable to talk to himself about what was happening in his mind, “simply existed.” Surely he was feeling and perceiving things, but he was only vaguely—if at all—aware of his mental processes; furthermore, he was incapable of foresight.

I propose that inner speech is the main cognitive process leading to self-awareness. What would happen if you could not speak to yourself? That is, self-talk allows us to verbally identify and process information about our current mental experiences (e.g., emotions, thoughts, attitudes, goals, motives, sensations) and other personal characteristics such as personality traits, behavior, and appearance. At an even higher level, I suggest that our internal dialogue is also what makes us aware of our own existence: “I’m alive and well; I’m a unique person with an identity; I have goals, aspirations, and values.” Being conscious that you exist is not the same as “simply existing.”

Current neuropsychological studies also tend to confirm the importance of inner speech for self-awareness. These two processes seem to share a common neurological basis, suggesting that they Recent studies demonstrate a cerebral involvement of the prefrontal lobes in self-awareness are linked. Assessments of patients suffering from brain damage, together with studies of psychiatric conditions (e.g., schizophrenia and autism), and recent brain-imaging experiments all strongly support the notion of an central involvement of the prefrontal lobes in self-awareness. For example, Johnson and his team at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, asked 11 healthy volunteers to evaluate the self-relevance of personality traits, abilities, and attitudes by pressing “yes” or “no” buttons. Such a task obviously requires self-awareness because it involves thinking about oneself. The brain activity of participants was simultaneously observed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The main area activated while the participants were performing the task was the prefrontal cortex, on both sides of the brain.

Interestingly, a series of studies conducted by Philip McGuire and his collaborators at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, show that specific structures within the left prefrontal lobe are also activated when people are invited to silently articulate sentences or single words. More specifically, inner speech is associated with activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus within the prefrontal cortex. Since a portion of the left prefrontal lobe is associated with inner speech, and that the prefrontal lobes as a whole mediate self-awareness, then it supports the notion that the former participates in self-awareness.

It comes as no surprise then that disruption of self-talk following left prefrontal brain injury negatively affects self-awareness, as suggested by Moss’ experience presented earlier. If loss of inner speech decreases self-awareness, we should expect the reverse process to take place with recovery of self-talk after cortical damage. Indeed, George Ojemann, a neurosurgeon at the University of Washington, observed that conscious experience in patients seems to return in parallel with inner speech.

A pertinent question at this point is: In what way exactly does inner speech make us self-aware? What is the nature of the relation between self-talk and self-awareness? My proposal is that inner speech can reproduce (i.e., internalize) and expand social sources of self-awareness. Our social milieu is populated by friends, family members, and coworkers who regularly comment on our personal characteristics and behaviors. This social feedback allows us to learn about ourselves. For example, people can claim “You are very strong…” or emotional, good-looking, introverted, lazy, punctual, etc. People may say to you: “I’ve been observing you lately—you seem anxious”… or sad, happy, healthy, impatient, etc. People communicate with us, smile at us, look angry at us, or ignore us; we use this information to develop a self-concept.

Inner speech makes it possible to communicate and develop a relationship with ourselves. We can talk to ourselves as if we were speaking to someone else; in this process we can reproduce for ourselves appraisals we get from others. For example, we can say to ourselves “You’re very strong”, emotional, lazy, etc. “Why did you do this? Because…”, “You take yourself way too seriously!”, “I feel anxious”, and so on. Talking to ourselves that way most certainly makes us self-aware and helps us identify self-information.

People around us also constantly confront us to other ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving; we perceive differences between these elements and what we typically do, think or feel. This motivates us to take the perspective of other persons and to develop an objective vision of ourselves and to examine our own intellectual, emotional, and behavioral patterns. To illustrate, let’s suppose you are at the theater watching a movie. The person seating in front of you keeps talking to her friend, which is annoying since it distracts you. This behavior strikes you as being rude (confrontation) and makes you realize (perspective taking and self-awareness) that you would never engage in such a behavior. You conclude that usually, at least in that kind of situation, you are respectful of others (acquisition of self-information).

Inner speech can internalize this mechanism of taking others’ perspective. This means that we can engage in self-talk in which we state to real or imaginary persons our motives for behaving in a given fashion or for having some personal characteristics. When, in response to the expected reactions of others, we explain our actions or describe ourselves in self-talk, we take other people’s perspective into consideration and thus gain an objective view of ourselves. For example, you might say to yourself: “X might wonder why I didn’t smile much at supper time last evening [objective vision of oneself produced by the anticipation of the reaction of another person]. Why did I act that way? Well, the plain fact is that X and I had a nasty fight two days ago and I still feel hurt and angry at her” [acquisition of information about your emotions]. Talking to ourselves that way, which encourages perspective taking, is bound to facilitate

...

It would be naïve to believe that inner speech alone produces self-awareness. We just saw that our social environment is important; so are a host of neurological and cognitive processes. Self-awareness represents a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. But I believe that inner speech plays a central role. I like to compare inner speech to a flashlight that we would use to find our way through a dark room. Without the light and by using touch we could still perceive objects and furniture in the room (by analogy: self-information); but perception (self-awareness) would be much more vivid and precise if we would put the flashlight on.

http://sci-con.org/2003/04/inner-speech-and-conscious-experience/

How important is language to us? Is there a need for language in order to sustain our existence, or can it be replaced?

Are images as powerful as words when it comes to the consciousness or vice versa?

I hope to explore these questions as time goes on.

Fri, Jan 25, 2008  Permanent link