This thread has really taken off !!! So many solid concepts and observations. I can guess at some but they are guesses.
Hormones are chemicals the body makes to respond when the brain says so. Chemicals used in the brain are very powerful stuff and in most cases will overpower "will or thought". I think some people, based on their behavior, have way more of them than any animals.
If I knew how to scientifically pattern fish as mentioned I would get rich selling that system to fisherman !! That is what fishermen have been trying to figure out since the beginning of time !!!
anthropic very good stuff. I think many people believe lots of animals are sentient beings (the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively) and won't eat them (vegans). I wonder what happens to them if they decide that plants are also sentient. Great info on human vs animal brains . I wonder sometimes where the line between human and animal begins. A very few humans (no names here) are a tragic waste and with malice were responsible for the murder of millions of their own kind. No animal has ever done that to its own kind - I wonder which is more advanced. Humans have the ability to do great and marvelous things but also to unleash great evil. When we get to talking about animal vs human and good vs evil we are delving into religion and philosophy. That is above my pay grade nor do I have those answers. A very smart man (scientist) once told me upon discussing the origin of earth , life and humans (evolution and creation)that all things fit together perfectly even though man does not fully understand and while we have a long way to go we became different when we were given a soul. I do hear you about politicians.
RAH the psychological condition is far to complex for me to address. I often find , upon reflection, wondering what I am doing and why.
Good post. One of the burdens of humanity is that we are moral beings, knowing good & evil (that may sound familiar from vacation bible school!). Animals can kill, but they cannot murder, as they are amoral.
On another topic, Dr. Egnor notes that brain surgeons have noticed that when they touch or stimulate brain tissue, they often get a response involving a memory, emotion, or a particular item. What they never get is a response involving abstractions, such as a comment on mathematics, philosophy, justice, or the like. The purely material brain, without consciousness, seems unconcerned with immaterial abstractions.
This is another reason why Egnor distinguishes between the material and immaterial minds.
