Understanding the Human Brain: Illusions and Realities

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The human brain is one of the most complex things that we, as a race know of. We still haven’t found a way to replicate one in the lab, and even our fastest supercomputers still envy the efficiency and processing power of the human brain. The humble origin of the human brain, however, has lead to some flaws. Reality is not an inherently constructed, or constant picture. The brain not only falls victim to dealers and tyrants of illusions, but also to its own flawed hardware.
Big Brother is one example of a tyrant of illusions. In 1984, Big Brother seeks to create his own version of reality, and succeeds for the most part. Oceania's form of government entirely depends on the people believing what they’re told. If they were aware of their true …show more content…

It has to rely on whatever input it receives, since that is all it gets. It has no metaphysical connection with the world, only what is imputed into it. In other words, the brain can only receive and process the information given to it; If the illusion is strong enough, then there is nothing the brain can do to determine whether the information is legitimate or not. This is a very interesting idea, and ties directly with both 1984 and The Truman Show. It is a philosophical idea, and is generally referred to as the “Brain in a Vat” Theory. Simply, if a human brain is connected to a computer simulation of the world, there is no way for the brain to distinguish its new reality with the one is was in before, since the brain itself has no sensory organs. It only receives information. The brain also has some other fallacies, such as creating false memories if enough stimuli is given. In one study, participants were given a treatment that causes false memories, and “70% of participants were classified as having false memories of committing a crime” after the study was completed. This makes the reality of 1984 and The Truman Show even more frightening, since any discrepancies might fade away and false memories replace them. Almost every aspect of reality can be false thanks to the brain, even how we see the world. Since our brain only receives input from our eyes, and all eyes are not made equal, people can experience the world in different colors. “[A] woman might say ‘I see a bright green color’, while [a] man might say ‘I see a green color tinted with blue’.”, when looking at a painted wall. Either way, our hardware definitely has some flaws in

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