God Awful Things

So, over at HowStuffWorks they have an article about the Top 5 Unsolved Brain Mysteries.  I found the first 4 to be fairly boring, but was very pleased to see the 5th, as it is something I frequently contemplate and bar room philosophize over.  That being… the conundrum of consciousness.

This section might just “blow your mind,” to use a common expression. But do you even have a mind? Scientists don’t know where the brain ends and the mind begins. Are they the same thing? What about souls? Are these located in our brains? What is responsible for all of the unique thoughts and feelings that make us who we are? Everyone from philosophers to physicists has taken up this question of consciousness and come up empty.

Whoa, man.

Scientists are also trying to figure out the relationship between conscious and unconscious experiences. There are some things — like breathing and maintaining a regular heart beat — that we don’t have to think about. How are these unconscious actions wired differently than the conscious ones? Is there any difference at all? We like to think we make our own decisions, but one recent study shows that we may not even do that. This study found that by using brain scanners, researchers could predict how a person was going to act a full seven seconds before the person knew that a decision had been made [sourceKeim]. Our consciousness might just be an illusion.

That’s what I’m saying.. I can’t be held responsible for my decisions, it wasn’t me, it was my brain!