Self: A Delusion?

By Shelton Ranasinghe

This books is a stimulating analysis combining cutting edge research and the thinking of modern and ancient philosophers on the elusive topic of "self". Where resides the self? and a host of other questions have baffled man over the past millennia.

The writer is realistic enough not to even suggest the possibility of solving all the mysteries. But he has done a very good job of identifying the components of the jig saw puzzle.

A part of the big picture emerges and the reader reaches a radically new and higher level of comprehension toward the end of the book.

The written style is unique and seems like "here are the facts; you take it on from there”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shelton Ranasinghe
• Release date: Aug 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452489704

Shelton Ranasinghe

Shelton Ranasinghe is an author and a retired professional engineer. The exposure he acquired living in five continents over a large part of his active working life combined with his interest on human behaviors, has given him a unique and intimate understanding of putting his thoughts into writing on philosophy and science fiction, combining both these streams.“Self A Delusion” - A good read to understand that the self could arise from deluded cognition.“Thinking Explored” - Cleverly explain how thinking process develops from day one.“Are We Being Fooled by our Brains” - Explore the complexity and cunning nature of the brain.“Our Psyche and Beliefs” - Is an idea of how our brains geared to adore beliefs.“Buddha Impetus to Primitive Psyche” - Refreshingly unforced and thought-provoking dissection of Buddhist doctoring.“Our extraterrestrial Neighbors” - Readers will perceive many complex philosophical overtones beyond the Sci-fi content.“The Phone Rang in the Middle of My Shower” - This Sci-fi explores afterlife, along many religious beliefs.“DoooD” - Excellent Sci-fi on Artificial Intelligence.Shelton’s email address: [e-mail]

Book preview

Self - A Delusion?

by

Shelton Ranasinghe

Self – A Delusion?

ISBN: 9781452489704

Copyright © 2012, by Shelton Ranasinghe

2665 Devon Hill Road, Rocky River, Ohio 44116, USA

[e-mail]

2nd Edition

Published in United State of America.

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the author.

~

Many people believe we are more than mere neurons, but of course we are not.

We assume that we have free will and that it guides our decisions,

but it’s the Neurons in our brains that run us.

~

This book is dedicated to those neurons that put this book together.

~

Sincere thanks to my good friend Bunchy Rahuman for hearty support.

Self – A Delusion?

Brain cells

I read an interesting article on the brain and consciousness at the website:

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mind.

The article was titled The Electric Brain and it was presented as a dialogue between Dr. Llinás (the author of the article) and NOVA. It is well worth reading the full version, if it’s still available.

The article points out that the nervous system first came about when cells decided to evolve from plant life into animal life, millions of years ago. Animals needed a nervous system as they are oriented to a life style where movement is inherent. The nervous system accommodates the movement, different environments and behavioral conditions. Dr. Llinás explains that consciousness is the sum of perceptions of the consensus derived by the cells when the cells started to talk to one another, a long time ago. He further states - We assume that we have free will and we make decisions, but we don't. Neurons in our brains do. We decide that this sum total driving us is a decision we have made for ourselves. But it is not.

He goes on;

The brain is made of cells. These are a very distinguished group of cells, about 550 million or more years old. These cells have a small mass. Our brain is about one-and-a-half liters, or three pounds, but it has 10¹⁰ cells, which is a huge number, ten billion cells. And each cell (Neuron) has 1,000 to 10,000 of synapses that form the connections between the cells. So, the brain has trillions of synapses. Neurons like one another very much. They respond to one another's messages, so they basically chat all day, like people do in society. Where can I park? How much is it going to cost? Am I going to get a ticket? One set of neurons talks to another set of neurons, and they talk back, so we have dialogues between different components in the brain. The dialogue is not between one cell and another cell, but rather between many cells and many other cells. It's like having a huge number of people holding hands, dancing together, making ever-changing circles and organized together in such a way that every cell belongs, at some time, to some circle. It's like a huge square dance. Each dancer belongs to a particular movement at a particular time.

This article points out self as an operating entity without a single commander. The collection of constantly changing networks of tiny communication entities that keeps the life operation running, gives the illusion of self.

After reading the above article I was thinking of another documentary called K9 Conspiracy that I have watched on television. This was about dogs. A crux of the documentary was to explain how this originally wild beast made use of the opportunities that it recognized during our ancestral hunter period. The movie very illustratively showed how the dogs manipulated human beings to accept them initially and then gradually made their way up to the present realm of social status that they enjoy now. The hunting man adopted the dog because of the associated benefits. The dogs were the first to realize the mutual benefits of the connection and they responded wisely. Originally the dogs were hanging around people, but at a distance. The dogs were not allowed inside the hunters' dwellings. They made the masters understand that they were guarding the dwellings by barking at intruders and other potential threats in the night. The cuddly puppies produced by the dogs, tempted the children of the masters to play with them. Through the children, first the puppies and then the adult dogs gradually made their way into the houses. Over time, the lucky ones ended up on the beds with humans. The crafty scheme