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Forebrain Commissures and the Unity of Mind

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Book cover Machinery of the Mind

Abstract

There is something profoundly amiss between the nature of reality and the ability of the human mind to comprehend it. The incongruity does not arise from mere ignorance, but from paradoxical observations. For instance, single electrons fired one at a time toward a pair of narrow slits can go through both slits simultaneously, as evidenced by the ensuing interference pattern. Yet, this pattern is absent if only a single slit is present or if the passage of the electron through the slits is recorded (Feynman, 1985)! This familiar peculiarity of the wave particle, and the fatal intrusiveness of observing it, is now further compounded by the demonstration that quantum mechanical effects can violate physical “locality” (Aspect et al., 1982; Bell, 1986); that is, the influence of observation can be conveyed at a speed exceeding the velocity of light.

“It is often said that physicists invented mechanistic-reductionistic philosophy, taught it to biologists, and then abandoned it themselves.”

Paul Davies (1988)

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Authors
  1. Robert W. Doty
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brain Research Laboratories, New York University Medical Center, 10020, New York, New York, USA

    E. Roy John M.D.  & Leslie S. Prichep  & 

  2. National University of Mexico, Ciudad de Los Deportes, Mexico

    Thalia Harmony

  3. Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cientifícas Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba

    Mitchell Valdés-Sosa  & Pedro A. Valdés-Sosa  & 

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Doty, R.W. (1990). Forebrain Commissures and the Unity of Mind. In: John, E.R., Harmony, T., Prichep, L.S., Valdés-Sosa, M., Valdés-Sosa, P.A. (eds) Machinery of the Mind. Birkhäuser, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1083-0_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1083-0_1

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-1085-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-1083-0

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