Neuroscience The New Philosophy Analysis

Vilayanur S. Ramachandran had a numerous number of family and teachers who supported him. His parents gave him a fine microscope when he was only eleven. His teachers supported his curiosity and gave him materials for experiments he had wanted to do. In “Neuroscience – The New Philosophy” he wrote about the nature of consciousness and the characteristics of self. So what do you think the characteristics of “the self” are? Do you think we choose our own destinies? Additionally, do we have control over ourselves? These are a few questions over many to ask your self. Ramachandran was surely a big fan of questions like these. Ramachandran admits that the nature of self has not yet been accomplished. He stated, "If it were, he says, he …show more content…
He thinks that everyone could benefit from being interested in the study of the self. So, the big questions are, What exactly is meant by "the self"? Ramachandran explains that "self" has five characteristics. He states that the first characteristic is continuity. "continuity: a sense of an unbroken thread running through the whole fabric of our experiences with the accompanying feeling of past, present, and future." (pp.566) This practically means something that is never broken and is consistent. Additionally, Ramachandran then goes on to the second characteristic which is: unity and coherence of self. Although, there is diversity with many things such as sensory experiences, each individual experiences them as one …show more content…
We are in charge of our own destinies as well, in most cases, our parents are not in charge of the career path we choose, we make this decision ourselves. The fifth and final characteristic is described as, everyone is aware of themselves, this just happens naturally by nature. The person who is unaware of themselves is an oxymoron. It is an oxymoron because it contradicts itself. Imagine being unaware of anything you are doing. This instance can happen when someone is intoxicated when someone drinks too much alcohol it can take a toll on your decision making, in some cases sometimes people blackout; not remembering anything that happened. They claim that they had no self-control. Ramachandran stated "Any or all of these aspects of self can be differentially disturbed in brain disease, which leads me to believe that the self comprises not just one thing, but many. Like "love" or "happiness," we use one word, self, to lump together many different phenomena."