The Third Blow

The discoveries about ourselves, about our brains and what constitutes self is the third blow to what we thought we knew. The emerging view of ourselves takes us from a central position where we coordinate our lives, the pilot of the vehicle of the body, to a far more amazing place.
First we had to deal with Galileo realising, by observing Jupiter and what turned out to be its moons, that our planet was not central to our universe. The Ptolemaic theory had been blown apart. We are on a small planet amongst infinite centres. This upset the establishment, galileos critics called it the dethronement of man. He was tortured then made to sign documents contrary to his great discovery by the catholic church
Next came Charles Darwin who did further damage to mans arrogance with his theory of natural selection. While the enlightened world is still working out the implications of this beautiful discovery some religious people still teach creationism to children. Darwins ideas placed us in with all the other animals.
Recent discoveries about our brains. Things like the illusion the mind creates of a cohesive unified self, an idea that is falling apart as we struggle to understand how we behaved so badly when we were drunk. The knowledge that consciousness is a small cherry on the cake. If we consciously try to play sports such as football or cricket we get worse. Our conscious minds are just not fast enough to hit a fast bowled cricket ball. The knowledge that decisions to act can be registered in our brains before we make conscious decisions. We are not the architects of our realities we like to think we are.
What this means has not been assessed yet. We are only beginning to learn. It is like the time just after Galileo when astronomers rushed to map out the stars. These times are that exciting. What is more are the legal, moral and philosophical repercussions of this third pillar of discovery. Our approach to crime, drugs virtually everything changes. No criminal can be regarded as responsible for their actions in the way they once were. The loss of belief in the idea of free will changes everything. Of course we, as a society must protect ourselves against dangerous people but our pathetic concepts of punishment must change.

I have always felt, hoped and believed that in my lifetime there would be a discovery that turned everything on its head just as Darwin did, just as Galileo did, and I honestly think that this is it.