Some interesting scientific findings being reported by brain researchers, story here at The Independent.
It has previously been suggested that our perceived ability to make autonomous choices is an illusion – and now scientists from the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California, Davis, have found that free will may actually be the result of electrical activity in the brain.
According to the research, published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, decisions could be predicted based on the pattern of brain activity immediately before a choice was made.
Volunteers in the study were asked to sit in front of a screen and focus on its central point while their brains’ electrical activity was recorded.With the left libertarians who are often caught up in pharma, I could see how their whole body electro-chemistry could be effected by the introduction of the chemicals directly into the body, but how can metals be looked at for the right libertarians who (usually) do not ingest the matter, but seem to be just effected by its physical presence or existence.
Could there be electro-magnetic effects of the metals on the brain functioning of the right libertarians which only requires proximity of an ungrounded conductor?
So it looks like there could be an electrical connection with the behaviors exhibited by the libertarians whose "will" seems to be one of constant rebellion against authority.
But based on this research outlined in the story, if the electrical functions of their brains was effected by the introduction of these two types of materials they are usually associated with, ie pharma and metals, it may not be a result of any of their "free will".
This seems more like the "precognition" experiments done at the "Heart Math Institute" Rather than an experiment on free will.
ReplyDeleteThe money quote:
They were then asked to make a decision to look either left or right when a cue symbol appeared on the screen, and then to report their decision.
The cue to look left or right appeared at random intervals, so the volunteers could not consciously or unconsciously prepare for it.
The brain has a normal level of so-called background noise; the researchers found that the pattern of activity in the brain in the seconds before the cue symbol appeared ... could predict the likely outcome of the decision.
In other words, the activity started a few seconds before the cue appeared (which was randomly timed) So obviously, the decision was being made before the appearance of the cue, since it was already known to the brain that the cue was going to appear.
So does not negate "free will" - but rather shows precognition.
See Dean Radin Electrodermal Presentiments of Future Emotions Also the heartmath institute - The Coherent Heart: A Discussion with Dr. Rollin McCraty
ReplyDeleteClonal,
ReplyDeleteIve looked at Radin's stuff via the 'Electric Universe' people here are two presentations he did with them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMXqyf13HeM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJwsSbiVE2g
Parts 1 and 2...
So you see some sort of connectedness between mind and matter...
all I can see (for now) is the correlation between these libertarians and these two material classes: drugs and metals....
The drugs seem easier to understand as these people directly ingest the drugs, but the metals seem much harder to get a handle on as there is no physical connection it looks electro-magnetic which is more abstract and perhaps harder to analyze...
rsp,
Matt, I would add guns and stupidity to that list. I was once a teaching assistant to Roy Jastram (who wrote the golden constant). So I understood where he came from on gold - but all of his data predated August 15 1973 - also the silver standard still held domestically till 1964. I don't think his results can be held to have any validity much beyond those dates.
ReplyDeleteFree will is background noise: a landmark in "scientific" stupidity.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to believe the sheer imbecility of the thesis.
It shows that scientist can be as credulous as it is possible to be, provided thought seems properly caged in the "spirit of the age."
Clonal I throw the guns in with "metals" ie with the right libertarians it is often "gold and guns" (check out the Alex Jones/Glenn Beck websites...)
ReplyDelete... I'll look into the Jastram book but as far as since we've gone off the metals they (metals) are still here and many people are still behaving as if we are still under them and/or want to go back under them... so this creates a lot of problems/stupidity, etc..
rsp,