Horizon: The Secret You

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

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Marcus De Sautoy, mathematician and all round interesting person, tries to discover what his consciousness really is, his 'I' as he calls it. It was an excellent documentary, you should watch it later on iplayer. He undergoes various experiments. One of them is amazing, a scientist puts marcus in a cat scanner to see how the brain makes decisions. Marcus has a button in each hand and has to decide which to press. It turns out the neurones of his brain make the decision 6 seconds before the conscious part of his brain is aware of it and actually executes that decision. So the scientist is consciously aware of marcus' decision 6 seconds before marcus consciously makes it, lol.
 
I recorded this as I was at work. I'll definitely give it a watch tomorrow. Glad Horizon is back on the TV, I know it's not always completely in depth, but it is interesting most of the time.
 
digipeep said:
So you will be flipping burgers when you graduate :D
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SO tempted to type an essay. :p

From what i have learnt, to have a career in Psychology you need to gain a 2.1 degree, study for a Masters and have around 1 years worth of experience before anything can 'happen'. A Phd is usually the next step. Depends what you want to go for.

I don't want to go into Psychology anymore but i wanted to have a degree to my name. :o
 
Has anyone had to choose between 2 things, not been able to, chosen one for arguments sake, and only then realised which you want. I do it all the time. I wonder if this is that unconscious decision thing?
 
digipeep said:
I'm finding it a fine line in this forum between having a laugh, taking the **** a bit and being a monk holier-than-thou with eternal wisdom.

Some people laugh at my attempts at homour other people want me burnt at the stake.
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Your second comment wasn't funny. You just tried to carry it on and be annoying. Stop trying to create a scene. :rolleyes:

Haha at your first comment.

Meanwhile, back on topic...i'll be downloading the above. :)
 
It was pretty clear your comment were sarcastic, but then again sometimes it's difficult to interpret the tone or seriousness of a post without the user making it blindingly obvious their intended level of jest; at which point, subtle humour becomes pointless!

I've just started to watch this thing, seems pretty interesting. The fact that the guy is a mathematician makes it a bit more appealing to me as well.
 
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SideWinder said:
Your second comment wasn't funny. You just tried to carry it on and be annoying. Stop trying to create a scene. :rolleyes:

Haha at your first comment.

Meanwhile, back on topic...i'll be downloading the above. :)
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You got me all figured out chief. Good luck on the degree btw. You will do well.
 
I find it interesting when he says "does an elephant know it's an elephant?"
It's true though isn't it, I mean, any animal just kind of.. 'exists' without knowing what it is or even what some parts of it's own body or face looks like, or even having the conscious awareness to contemplate it. I've often wondered to myself, why am I me and not him or her over there or even that animal or an ameoba. In other words, how come I see through my eyes and not someone elses. If that makes any sense at all, probably not! But I suppose that's the same sort of thing he's on about, beyond the neurones and possibly into something outside the realms of science, ie, the soul. So if there's a soul, what or who chooses for your soul and my soul to inhabit a given body, thus creating the 'I' . Woa, deep! Lol. :D

Edit: oh, well this 'I' has become a hitman, just noticed. :p
 
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