[ExI] Repressed Science of Brain Transplantation

Stathis Papaioannou stathisp at gmail.com
Tue Sep 16 13:22:38 UTC 2008


2008/9/16 Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com>:
> We began arguing on this list many, many months ago
> whether or not the body is necessary for the experience
> of emotion (or of all emotion).
>
> Prominent researchers can be found who claim that it
> is, yet logically, their case seems weak. After all, if it's
> conceivable that our whole universe can be emulated,
> and it doesn't have any bodies, then why can't my mind?
>
> Besides, whatever signals do transpire from the body to the brain to help
> the experience of emotion (and perhaps other things), then couldn't very
> small modules
> inserted on those very nerves or blood vessels perform
> the same role? All in all, the more I think about it---and
> I think people here will agree---the more dubious it seems
> that the body really is needed for anything.

The body obviously does contribute to emotion. For example, in panic
attacks this gets out of hand in a positive feedback loop: a mental
event makes you anxious, which triggers a physiological response,
which you notice and get more anxious about, which increases the
physiological response, which makes you even more anxious, etc. But as
you correctly point out, this whole process could be duplicated with
just a brain, provided that it was given the same I/O as it would
normally get from the attached body.



-- 
Stathis Papaioannou



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