So, is the mind just a particular bunch of neurons firing in a complex way? Or, is it something else?
Brain scans can reveal which neurons are firing when, for example, someone sees the color green. But, can brain scans show what someone feels when they see the color green? Everyone can have a personal response to green and it can change over time and in different situations.
If we take an action in response to a stimulus, brain scans can trace the pathways from stimulus to action. But, where are the emotional and willful origins working with the stimulus to determine the action? Are we just robots acting according to programs locked in our brains and incapable of being influenced by a willful mind? In other words is this just our personal Matrix?
There has to be more to this puzzle.
Perhaps the answer is to be found in some undiscovered cluster of neurons that work between the neurons that receive the stimulus and the ones that direct the action. These new unidentified neurons would somehow have to be capable of making innovative decisions. Are there neurons capable of such independent behavior? This brain-to-brain concept seems very materialistic. It seems at odds with what we perceive as mind. It seems to deny free will and diminishes any possibility for independent mental force.
On the other hand, if we make room for something else – a mind – that influences the brain, we allow for free will and an ability to use a mental force that is not constrained by neuron switches.
