(2001). Neuropsychoanalysis, 3:242-243 It is generally understood among neuroscientists that we cannot fully know the world in which we live. Our consciousness constructs an image by combining and organizing reports from our various senses as they have been processed by the brain. First, even in the realms that these senses report, they detect only a segment of the full visible and audible spectra; they are sensitive to only a small number of the ambient chemicals in the air and in the substances introduced into the mouth; of the physical substances of the environment they are sensitive only to those that stimulate the tactile receptors of the skin and the tension sensitive receptors in the muscles. Second, we know, by inference, that the environment contains things for which we have no sense organs. There is a clock mechanism in the brain but we cannot directly perceive time. We can only infer its passage from observations of changes in those things that we can directly perceive. Science has made us aware of componen [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
