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> There are electrical firing of neurons, absolutely, but do they directly define thought?

Well, surgeons and researchers have shown that electrical stimulation of certain brain regions, can induce "perception" during procedures. They can make a patient have the conscious experience of certain smells, for instance.

It's not conclusive proof of anything, but I wouldn't bet against us getting closer to the mark, than we were when we only considered hydro-dynamics as the model.





> surgeons and researchers have shown that electrical stimulation of certain brain regions, can induce "perception" during procedures

I can carefully drop liquid reactants on a storage medium and induce nontrivial and reproducible changes in any computer reading it. That doesn't tell me how digital storage works, it just says I'm proximate to the process.


It goes far beyond smells, in ways I find deeply unsettling

We can induce religious experience, see "The God Helmet"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_helmet

or deep depression & suicidal thoughts

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199905133401905


The Wikipedia page seems to show that it's just a placebo/scam? The helmet has the equivalent magnetic effect of a fridge magnet or hair dryer, and researchers in Sweden replicating the research in a double-blind study found no effect at all. Looking at the pictures on the official website https://www.god-helmet.com/wp/god-helmet/index.htm , it's just magnets on a snowmobile helmet this guy bought.

That god helmet article seems to thoroughly debunk it as snake oil quackery, which is indeed deeply disturbing



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