Early in The Mysterious Flame, (1)., philosopher Colin McGinn's breezy but provocative discussion of the relationship between consciousness and the brain, McGinn presents a telling vignette from a science fiction story in which aliens are discussing their observations of humans:
"These creatures are the only sentient race in the sector and they're made out of meat. . . .They're meat all the way through."
"No brain?"
"Oh, there is a brain all right. It's just that the brain is made out of meat."
"So . . .what does the thinking?"
"You're not understanding, are you? The brain does the thinking. The meat."
"Thinking meat! You're asking me to believe in thinking meat!"
"Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal. Are you getting the picture?" (1).
It is this apparent contradiction, that initially insensate organic material can create consciousness, a phenomenon without apparent material content or spatial location, which McGinn sets out to explain. Many philosophers and scientists have undertaken this journey before him, but McGinn contends that this long road of philosophical inquiry is actually a blind alley. While McGinn believes that the mind is indeed a product of the material qualities of the brain, he argues that the mind (or brain) does not itself possess the ability solve what philosophers denominate "the mind-body problem," (although "mind-brain problem" might be more accurate).
McGinn begins by rejecting both traditional materialism and dualism. Materialists propose that the brain and consciousness are one and the same: thus, brain waves not only correlate with consciousness, they are consciousness. McGinn faults this position for ignoring the very nature of co...
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This paper discusses the limits of human knowledge, with an emphasis on Chomsky's theories.
http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/courses/consciousness97/papers/ProblemOfPhilosophy.html
This paper discusses the need to discover new properties of space to better understand consciousness, and impossibility of doing so
http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/courses/consciousness97/papers/ConsciousnessSpace.html
A review of Steven Pinker's How the Mind Works, in which McGinn elaborates on his theory of the mind.
http://www.2think.org/htmw_review.shtml
Reviews of The Mysterious Flame
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/11/reviews/990711.11strawst.html
http://peterama.tripod.com/strawson.htm
http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/16/24/cog00001624-00/thesciences.htm
www.the-scientist.com/yr1999/may/research_990510.html
Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). Psychology; Science of Mind and Behaviour. (European Edition). New York.
Rosenthal D 2002, 'Explaining Consciousness', in Philosophy of mind classical and contemporary readings,Chalmers D J (eds), Oxford University press, New York
Born in 1640, Aphra Behn broke gender stereotypes when she undertook a thrilling (if unrewarded) life as a spy for the Crown, but it was her scandalous career as an author which truly achieved many firsts for women. She was the first woman to support hereself financially by solely relying on the profession of writing, and many readers argue that Oroonoko--her passionate tale about the institution of slavery--was the first English novel. She was certainly one of the first female authors to write candidly about sexuality: in fact, she both broke new ground and challenged conceptions of patriarchal power when she wrote about women's empowerment through sexuality. In her poems "The Willing Mistress" (from her play The Dutch Lover, 1673) and "The Disappointment" (1680), Behn creates situations of bold sexual mischief in which female characters are aware of, comfortable with, and even thrive off their sexuality.
Gregory, R.L & Zangwill, O.L (1987) The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 189-191.
Dennett, Daniel Clement. Kinds of Minds: Toward an Understanding of Consciousness. New York, NY: Basic, 1996. Print.
"The Consequences of Dropping out of High School." www.clms.neu.edu. N.p., October 2009. Web. 31 Mar 2010. http://www.clms.neu.edu/publication/documents/The_Consequences_of_Dropping_Out_of_High_School.pdf
Although the American high school dropout rate has fallen from twelve percent to seven percent over the past few decades, it is still estimated that every 26 seconds an American teenager drops out of high school. Adding to the lack of education from which high school dropouts suffer, they also have a thirty percent chance of living in poverty once dropping out of high school. Unfortunately, the negative impact of the choice to dropout doesn’t stop there. The children of these dropouts are then seven times more likely to drop out of high school when they are of age. This is know as the “poverty trap” because once are you and your family are into the poverty system, it is statistically challenging to get out. It is quite like being snared in a trap. This demonstrates why the reduction of dropout figures is crucial to lowering the rates of
Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2011). It’s all B2B… and beyond: Toward a systems
Hofstadter, Douglas R., Daniel Clement. Dennett, and Raymond Smullyan. The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul. New York: Basic, 1981, Chapter 23 “The Unfortunate Dualist”.
Obviously, education is considered by most people as a survival kit for security of tenure and financial stability. Truly, many high school graduates who are enroll in college find themselves dropping off school in the first year of their college education. Admittedly, President Barack Obama’s administration knows this issue and has decided to even put out a $380 million educational budget for 2010 to assist students at risk of dropping out and to encourage high school graduates to earn an associate or bachelors degree in college. Today, college dropouts in American colleges have been steadily increasing due to inadequate academic preparation, compromising academic classes, and issues on parenthood.
Many American children who earned a high school diploma end up pursuing a bachelor’s degree and further more a graduate degree. These individuals often start right away or after a year later at a credible university or 2 year college. Out of the students who decided to pursue school, not everyone end up with the bachelors degree they went to school for. These students drop out or defers based on circumstances, lack of motivation, and also lack of financial, emotional and physical support.
High school has many problems and many hard obstacles to overcome. Some people study harder or get help, and others quit. They drop out and the problem completely disappears. The dropout rate in the United States alone is 1.2 million and is at a steady increase. Students were asked why they dropped out or what there thoughts were on dropping out of High school and reasons ranged from having mental disabilities and not having help to the fact that they were bored and just didn't feel like going anymore. High school is meant to challenge young adults and prepare them for what life has to come. If a student can't get through four years of High school the consequences are endless. Some consequences such as the ability or opportunity to get a job becomes scarce or the inability to do certain life lessons taught in these classes impact said students in dramatic ways. High school students such as Marcus, Lawrence, Marco, and Sparkle; Whose stories became very public experienced the pros and cons of a high school diploma personally.
Throughout the years, America has been facing one of educations most major problem: Student Drop outs. “With more than 26% of students failing to graduate on time each year in the United States, we face a growing national crisis” (Choices 1). The percentage of student dropouts has decreased over time, but still seems to become a dilemma in the country. “The status dropout rate declined from 12 percent in 1990 to 7 percent in 2011” (U.S. Department of Education), but still seems to remain the same and is even increasing. There are many factors that play into a student’s decision of dropping out of school early. These factors include ethnic races, school factors and social/student factors.
Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2013) Essentials of management information systems. (10th ed., p. 138). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
"Susan B. Anthony." Susan B. Anthony - Women's Rights. National Park Service, 25 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. .