Journal of NeuroPhilosophy

Is Low Solar Energy Causing Reduction in Serotonin and Leading to the Obesity and Mental Health Crisis?

Roy Barzilai — 2024-12-04

We are living in a historical period in respect to the deterioration in public health, as we experience the rise of the catastrophic obesity epidemic and mental health crisis in recent decades, despite the great efforts from the scientific and medical community to seek health solutions and to try to find cures to the enormous human suffering and economic costs resulting by this collapse in public health. This trend has reached such a critical level that it jeopardizes society when over 40% of the population is obese in the United States, suffering grave medical health conditions, even as the expenditure on public health is rising exponentially to over 20% of gross domestic product. This should point to a monumental failure in our fundamental understanding of basic human biology and health. This article suggests that our current Western reductionist scientific paradigm in both biology and medicine has proved impotent and failed us completely. Therefore, the current cultural health crises require a more holistic approach to human biology and health in terms of chronobiological trends. The emerging neuroscience of brain energy metabolism will be considered as a holistic model for understanding how solar cycles affect our civilization and drive our sex and growth hormones and neurotransmitters that shape both our physical and mental health.

Default Mode Network as the Neurophysiological Groundwork of Collectivity

Mehmet Emin Ceylan — 2024-12-04

All newborns are born with a collective self that carries the traces of the selves of all humans who lived before them, and then form their individual self over the collective self in the light of the experience and information they gathered by themselves. This library of knowledge in question can be reached for a short time during sleep and mind-wandering. Easy access to this great source of knowledge requires that the archive in question is recorded in a neural network that has widespread projections in the brain. In our opinion, the best candidate for this is default mode network due to its neurophysiological and neuroanatomical characteristics. In this article, default mode network is discussed as a dynamic neural archive, which carries all the knowledge of humanity and the concept of collectivity is discussed with a philosophical point of view on the basis of neuroscience.

Blur and Knowledge from Falsehood: Neural Network Science and Neurophysiology Meets Epistemology

Jody Azzouni — 2024-12-04

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) trained on clear images fail catastrophically with degraded or blurry imagery. New results by Jang and Tong, and Pramod, Katti and Arun show visual object recognition is optimized by introducing peripheral blur. Optimizing recognition of objects this way empirically supports the significance of there being a hundred times less photoreceptors dedicated for peripheral vision than in the retina. These results refute a longstanding epistemic slogan: Knowledge of truths arises only from knowledge of truths. Blur-trained CNNs and humans recognize things in blurry, degraded and noisy environments—a dog, a radiator—that clear-image-trained CNNs don’t. Blurring is misinformation about what is seen, so the human perceptual system recognizes objects by processes that start from falsehood. Peripheral blur—misinformation about what is seen—is essential to perceptual knowledge.

The Absolute Otherness of Authentic Human Identity as a Ghost in a Machine

Feride Zeynep Güder — 2024-12-04

Descartes' philosophical arguments about the dual nature of the human mind and body were modified by Ryle to suggest that the authentic human soul is a ghost in the machine. Authentic human intelligence and mind have been targeted for invasion by neurotechnological innovations such as HET (Human Enhancement Technologies) and NBIC (Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Sciences). The study focuses on the vulnerability of individual human consciousness as it converges with the artificial collective consciousness and aims to discuss the otherness of humans and their futile attempts to escape the hive mind as artificial consciousness. The ghost of human memory and authentic identity is now forced to cooperate with the collective consciousness as a machine. As Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Consciousness surpasses the capacity of normal human intelligence, staying outside of these algorithmic innovations and high AI technologies is challenging as new types of 'others' emerge and seek their points of escape and resistance. Therefore, the normal search for solitude and privacy has a different orientation and nature than the technological invasion. This otherness is the absolute otherness of the human being in the face of the challenges of the hive mind, the latest version of artificial intelligence, artificial consciousness, and big data. The study gives some examples of escape practices from a dystopian science fiction film, Ghost in the Shell, where the authentic human soul and identity are trapped in the shell of a cyborg body, and this transhumanist loneliness and otherness is explored through theoretical arguments.

The Rocky Road Towards Defining the Mind

Sandro Skansi — 2024-12-04

This study scrutinizes the essence of intelligence through the lens of search theory, enriched by philosophical insights and computational paradigms. We critically analyze Herbert Simon's foundational idea of intelligence as search, revealing its limitations in capturing the complexity of human cognition. Emphasizing the role of imagination – a neglected aspect – we explore how it simplifies intricate realities by reshaping search spaces through conceptual frameworks and classifications. Our exploration navigates between materialistic reductionism and dualist views of the mind, scrutinizing neural mechanisms versus the intuitive aspects of mental phenomena. Ultimately, we advocate for an integrated perspective of intelligence that goes beyond algorithmic problem-solving to embrace creativity and the nuanced depths of human thought.

The Modular with Feedback: Theory of Free Will

Peter Lugten — 2024-12-04

In this theoretical article, I propose free will to be compatible, not with determinism, but with chance. This paper provides a neurological model of how free will emerges from oscillating neuronal activity, in modules. These, representing ideas, oscillate subconsciously, competing for conscious attention; choice between them is partly random. The modules seek to maintain, homeostatically, a sense of context and consistency; and a conscious desire for a sense of character and personality. I propose that they learn from experience, using feedback to rebalance, so that decisions conform to our desired will. This applies to "snap" decisions, but also to our moral core. Particular experiences influence our future moral judgments such that we accept responsibility for our generally but not entirely predictable decisions. The model explains will power, pathologies (i.e., addiction, “ego-depletion”) and links free will to creativity and humor. The Modular with Feedback theory of free will grants us freedom through a plastic control the uncertainty of which isn’t understood, but which is sufficient to preclude determinism.

Memory of Existing Objects as a Fundamental Idea in the Metaphysics and Ontology of Fictional Entities

Arturo Leyva Pizano — 2024-12-04

Analytic philosophers have long debated about whether fictional characters exist. Fictional antirealists argue that fictional entities are not part of the objects that exist; fictional realists believe that fictional entities do exist. Drawing on recent neuroscientific developments, I make the case here for fictional realism. I review the neuroscientific evidence that memory functions not only to remember the past but to prepare for the future by rearranging the components of past experiences to permit anticipation of future scenarios. Both imagery (neural representations of objects not present in the environment) and imagination (production of novel neural images during waking and sleep) rely on retrieval of memories of previous experiences. I argue that the creation of a fictional character (e.g., Jane Austen creating Emma Woodhouse) involves the recombination of memories and images from the author’s biographical experience. Thus, fictional characters are ontologically dependent not just on the material objects containing their stories (e.g., books, films) but also on the real objects/individuals that the author rearranges to form the fictional entity. My theory explains how this rearrangement of previously existing elements can create something new without relying on the idea of pretence, as all elements of the fictional entity derive from persons or objects existing in the real world.

The Role of Consciousness and Emotion in Decision-making: A NeuroPhilosophical Perspective

Akanksha Nambiar — 2024-12-04

Humans engage in a complex array of metacognitive activities in their daily lives. These mainly involve being aware consciously or unconsciously while deciding on a particular action, which is fundamental to human existence. Humans acquire a unique skill of observing societal nuances, expressing their opinions, feeling a range of emotions, and choosing the actions that reflect their identity. The paper aims to comprehend the fundamental aspects of consciousness and human emotional decision-making, which are influenced by socio-economic factors. This will be presented in three ways: first, it will explain the intricacies involved in decision-making science and behavioural outcomes. Second, the theoretical models and themes will explain the socio-economic factors influencing the emotional components of humans. Thus, this compromises an individual's decision-making skills. Third, an experimental representation of consciousness and decision-making models by scientists- Antonio Damasio and Stanislas Dehaene. This will hold the essentiality of modern outlook, tools, and methods adopted in Psychology and Neuroscience to perceive consciousness and decision science differently. Lastly, the paper highlights a comprehensive theoretical and empirical investigation of factors compounding the consciousness, socio-economic and emotional decision-making of humans.

Piketty’s Summarized Ideas on Social Inequality in the View of Cosmological Neuroscience

Nandor Ludvig — 2024-12-09

The present article placed in the framework of cosmological neuroscience the book titled “Nature Culture, and Inequality’’ by Thomas Piketty, the French economist and sociologist. According to Piketty, it is culture and politics that explains the diversity, degree, and structure of social inequalities, whereas the importance of natural factors, such as personal talents and reserves of natural resources, is relatively limited. In contrast, this article argued that the perhaps cosmically programmed evolution of the human brain is the real, though hopefully transient, determinant of social inequality. The relevant specific message of this paper is that it is the evil side of the evolutionary force of socialization on the human brain’s emotionally and cognitively assisted Motivational system that is responsible for abnormal social inequality across the globe, throughout history. However, agreeing with Piketty, this paper also emphasized that social inequality depends on who controls the government and to what end. The article stood by its author’s previously published opinion that just societies with minimized, therefore socially welcomed and never abused, inequalities can be built only via a Government of Earth responsible, besides governing, for running an intercontinental education system able to train social leaders with equal moral and intellectual excellence, disinterest in personal financial gains, and understanding the cosmic contexts of human history.

1st International Neurophilosophy Symposium November 29, 2024, Üsküdar University, İstanbul, Türkiye

Organizing Committee — 2024-12-04

The 1st International Neurophilosophy Symposium has successfully concluded, and we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all participants. Below is a list of the distinguished speakers and their insightful presentations. We deeply appreciate the engaging discussions and the exchange of knowledge that enriched this event. Thank you for making it a success! Prof. Dr. Patricia Churchland, the global authority in neurophilosophy, was the main speaker of the symposium, while Prof. Dr. Sultan Tarlacı, who conducts scientific studies in this field, was also among the symposium speakers. Üsküdar University Founding President Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said that "neurophilosophy is a new field and that much new information will emerge in this field". At the symposium, Prof. Dr. Lütfü Hanoğlu “Philosophy for Neuroscience, Neuroscience for Philosophy; Cognitive Ontology”, Dr. Saffet Murat Tura “The Penfield Experiment and Neils Bohr's Complementarity Principle: An Epistemological Approach to the Problem of Consciousness”, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Talay Turner “Philosophy of Emotions and Neurophilosophy”, Dr. Merve Arlı Özekes “Neurophilosophy and the Question of Well-Being in Aristotle's Thought”, Dr. Lecturer M. Kaan Özkan “A Neurophilosophical Essay on the Origin of Phenomenal Experience”, Doğa Merve Karataş “Neurophilosophy: A Common Language for Philosophy of Mind and Neuroscience” and Dr. Lecturer Baver Demircan “Neurophilosophy and Social Consciousness” gave a talk.

Self-localisation without Property Dualism

Mustafa Khuramy — 2024-12-04

In this journal, Bucci (2022) has argued that two famous experiments in the neuroscientific literature can be used to support property dualism about the mind. In what follows, I attempt to illustrate that those experiments are completely compatible with a naive identity mind-brain/body identity theory.

The Controversy Over Physicalism vs. Non-physicalism: Which One Is More Supported?

Kevin Winston — 2024-12-04

Physicalism and non-physicalism are the two dominant ideas currently being used to propose explanations for consciousness. However, a final consensus for an explanation of the basis of consciousness has not yet been achieved. This study analyzes the current viewpoints of physicalism and non-physicalism and the weaknesses of these viewpoints in order to determine which argument, if any, is more likely to comprise a definitive explanation for consciousness in the future. It assesses the popularity of each argument and the possible future direction for the overall debate. The study results suggest that physicalism is more popular than non-physicalism, although non-physicalism is expected to grow as an argument in the future in the debate. This indicates that a new explanation for consciousness that incorporates the ideas of both physicalism and non-physicalism may be developed.

The Perceptual Mechanics of Consciousness that Evolves Life Towards an Ever-refining Image of God

Sam Breslauer — 2024-12-04

This is the third and final paper in presenting the Fractal of Self model of consciousness, which focuses on the natural consequence of Infinite Self (IS) / God developing an ever-increasingly complex material perception (creation) that His Self-consciousness becomes embodied, as life itself. IS thus creates worldly conditions that allows oneself to act through a multitude of diverse biological bodies that each create a unique objective perception of the created world. Each creature, along with their embodied experience, is providentially guided by IS’s foreknowledge of all possible expressions of information that already exist immaterially in His eternal mind beyond creation. The Fractal of Self model proposes that the complex functionality and order of informational sequences within RNA and DNA, that act as fully formed instructions for the construction life, is the micro-physical medium in which IS collapses His embodied designs into the physical world. Because creation reflects IS’s identity, life, upon inception, is naturally imbued with self-value. This internal self-valuing system expresses itself in the form of the Values of Life; the need to keep experience alive for self and others of the same specie group via fulfilling goals related to survival and reproduction. This internal value system, that upholds and interconnects life as a whole united structure, is inwardly felt by individuals through positive and negative sensations that, in turn, control one’s attention towards highly relevant informational patterns that either threaten or promote the fulfillment of the Values of Life. Important life experiences are recorded as memories of significance and are remembered with the inner-sensations present at the time, which allows one’s internal value system to discern and rank-order experiences, storing highly valued emotionally charged memories at the top of one’s memory / mind hierarchy for easy future recall. Essentially, these perceptual mechanics are controlled by the need to experience homeostasis and is also responsible for the continual evolution of competence and intelligence within the kingdom of life

A Handle on Consciousness: The Asymmetry of Consciousness

George Goutos — 2024-12-04

The mystery of consciousness, especially the question of how we each experience our own unique, first-person perspective, is something that has perplexed scientists for centuries and philosophers for millennia. In the vast complexity of the human brain is a three-pound universe teeming with neurons and synapses. Yet somehow, amidst all this biological machinery, emerges the wondrous phenomenon of consciousness. This raises not one, but two intriguing puzzles. First, there's the symmetric challenge: Why would any physical state become sentient? It's like asking why any light bulb, plugged into any socket, suddenly glows. But the asymmetric challenge is where things get more personal and perplexing: Why does my specific, individual first-person perspective exist at all? Why do I experience my thoughts and my feelings? That’s like asking why does one specific light bulb represent ‘me’? This exploration delves into this enigma, highlighting the inherent uniqueness of each person's first-person perspective. It’s evident that we have no current theories that even come close to an explanation. We need a robust theory, one that will not only explain consciousness but can also fully explain the distinct and deeply personal nature of individual consciousness.

Spinoza’s Mind in Modern Affective Neuroscience

Edward J Miller — 2024-12-04

The increasing popularity of affective neuroscience lends itself to more authors utilizing Spinoza’s dual aspect monism as their philosophical backbone. However, it is important that if Spinoza’s work is to be incorporated in this manner, a thorough understanding of his philosophy is maintained, particularly the way that Spinoza relates mind, brain and his understanding of God (Universal Substance). This perspective piece gives a brief overview of Spinoza’s work, mainly from Ethics, and discusses how his complex theories may be easily misinterpreted by modern authors.

Freedom under Naturalistic Dualism

Arturo Macías — 2024-12-04

This article explores the issue of freedom in the framework of naturalistic dualism. Given that for physicalism the Universe is no more than the execution of the mechanical (either deterministic or stochastic) laws of Physics, reality is chance and necessity. On the other hand, consciousness is immediately real. By evaluating the set of possible futures conditional on their own actions a subject builds a legitimate mental object that is the scope of their "freedom". The existence of free will depends on the fact that the future cannot be remembered. The philosophical relevance of a better scientific understanding of time asymmetry is underscored and it is conjectured that it is related to the existence of fundamental (ontic) randomness in the fundamental Laws of Physics. The article closes with a short discussion on the moral consequences of this vision: the abhorrence that evil deeds produce is justified in absence of causative agency because they signal an unworthy conscious perpetrator.