Who's in the homunculus's head, then?

And who's in the homunculus that's in the homunculus's head? And who's in the...

It's like seeing yourself in two mirrors that are facing each other. Like the ones in the bathroom in my freshman dorm.

I remember a friend talking about some wacky scientist or another who'd managed to move the centre of his consciousness into his navel. I'm still not sure I believe that's possible, but then again, I'm sense-bound. What if I were blind and deaf? Would I still be in my head?

Another fascinating subject. I think the ancient Greeks thought the center of one's consciousness is in one's chest.

I think the ancient Greeks thought the center of one's consciousness is in one's chest.

Could they feel themselves thinking there? Of course, I'm not sure I can feel myself thinking, but you know what I mean. It's not like (I think (or do I?)) that anyone told me where my consciousness was.

I'd never really thought of that before, but I suppose my impression of the "location" of my self is just behind the eyes, handily near the center of my brain.

I read a few months back about some scientist who did research on near-death experiences and theorized that our brains are merely receivers for information and thoughts that originate on some other plane of existence. Because our brains don't have the physical capacity to store all the sensory information that we accumulate in a lifetime.

Dude, I can't remember what I had for lunch the day before yesterday. I seriously doubt that the amount of info I'm retaining is overloading the brain's storage capacity.

I seriously doubt that the amount of info I'm retaining is overloading the brain's storage capacity.

You're probably using a crappy compression algorithm.

Could they feel themselves thinking there?

Good question. I don't really remember.

I think that for non-blind humans, vision is such an important part of how we "see" ourselves in the world that it's almost inevitable that people would imagine themselves thinking behind their eyes.

Did anyone watch So You Think You Can Dance this week? I've just finished and was wondering if the people who didn't like Heidi before liked her better now--because I think she was loads better with Travis as her partner. As for who might be going, I'd vote for Martha (who I've never liked) and Ivan (who I like a lot, but I just don't think he can compete technically at this point).

I remember a friend talking about some wacky scientist or another who'd managed to move the centre of his consciousness into his navel. I'm still not sure I believe that's possible, but then again, I'm sense-bound. What if I were blind and deaf? Would I still be in my head?

That's not just the Greeks, but a tenet of Confucianism and early Taoism. Even in the West, the head didn't become the home of consciousness until the late Dark Ages. I can't remember the details, but this was part of a paper I wrote for a class on Theories of Consciousness back in the early 90s.

Who's in the homunculus's head, then?

When a body meets a body comin' through the brain?

That's not just the Greeks, but a tenet of Confucianism and early Taoism. Even in the West, the head didn't become the home of consciousness until the late Dark Ages.

That just seems really odd to me, but of course I'm a product of a "head-consciousness" culture, so....