Tuesday
30Jun2009
Futures in Biotech 44: Cogito Ergo Sum by fMRI
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 10:01AM Dr. John Gabrieli (MIT) explores memory, thoughts, and emotion by fMRI...
Hosts: Marc Pelletier, Dave Brodbeck
Guest: John Gabrieli; Grover Herman Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
What does the statement:"I think, therefore I am" used by Rene Descartes really mean? What if you could look into the human mind with the most sophisticated instrumentation available? Well in brief, this is what John Gabrieli does in his lab at MIT. He studies memory, thought, and emotion by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. If only Descartes had an fMRI in the1630-40s!
Reader Comments (1)
Great episode. Learned a lot about fMRI as well as philosophy and some of the recent advances.
To me the question of free will is a bit poorly posed though. In order to tell if we have free will, we must first determine who "we" are. If we are not separate from our bodies, then our bodies are part of who we are and whatever our bodies do, regardless of how involuntary it may seem, is actually result of our will. I will jerk my hand away from a hot stove by reflex, but that reflex is part of who I am and so is part of my will. Furthermore if I didn't want to have that reflex it is conceivable that I could train it out of me.
Just a thought
Thanks for putting out the podcast
(PS in the audible link repiles should be replies)