Quantifying Learning at the Synapse: Has the “Gold Standard” Been Set for Understanding Consciousness?

Posted by khalling 9 years, 6 months ago to Science
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From Walter Donway (wdonway) the author: "The psychologist to which this article refers was Allen Blumenthal, one of the original circle around Ayn Rand that included his future wife, Joan Mitchell, Alan Greenspan, Nathaniel and Barbara Branden, and a few others. When I first came to NYC, Dr. Blumenthal was very, very active in the practice of psychotherapy.and holding therapy groups to discuss the Objectivist theory of psychology...Highlight of the week for dozens of people."

"Jump, for a moment, from learning in the fruit fly to the most complex mental process known: “free will.” There is a theory in psychology that our volition is genuinely undetermined and that introspection—a valid level of observation of learning—suggests that this free will is to be found in the human choice to “turn on,” or “focus,” or elevate the level of conscious activity in response to challenge. Obviously, there is no evidence that this capability exists in species other than man because either they cannot introspect or cannot report their introspection—still the chief evidence for free will."

Edited to include the Rand context
SOURCE URL: http://www.thesavvystreet.com/quantifying-learning-at-the-synapse-has-the-gold-standard-been-set-for-understanding-consciousness/


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