Hume Quote plus...

For Hume, personal identity is a fiction, we do not exist, we are but a consecution of sensations or perceptions, "I venture to affirm that we are nothing but a bundle or collection of different sensations, succeeding one another with inconceivable rapidity, and in perpetual flux and movement."
This bundle theory is supplemented by the illusion that a self 'owns' this bundle. An inner narrative, peculiar to each of us, a person who we believe we are. The other or true self only exists from the outside. The person who the social group come to know. The inner narrative is in constant reappraisal as we act out of character, "I wasn't myself last night", and have to redraw our belief of who we are. Confident people are more sure of the illusion. Political leaders especially so. If Tony Blairs narrative were to collapse he may recognise his war crimes. The truth would bring suicidal guilt. With the aid of a god delusion his self illusion remains solid. But most of us have far less faith in who we are, in what we believe. It is extremely rare to find a bad person. Though many end up in the judicial courts differing societies create only few have no outer or inner narrative with which to explain their actions. Even crimes of extreme violence, if they are premeditated, are the result of some piece of reasoning. Crimes of passion, most societies recognise as lesser crimes than those of premeditation. Reactive crime can only be the result of our nature. If a Tourette's sufferer swears at you, you accept that there was no crime and take no offence. If a similar, uncontroled movement caused them to lash out and hit you, how do you respond? It was not them but their body. If through some extreme Tourette's like spasm they kill, what then? It would be no more fair than to blame an epileptic for having a fit. We have left the dark days of punishing epileptics behind. So if any act is the result of the brain, whether they 'meant' it or not is of no matter. Some, through no fault of their own, are born with bad brains. Ought we to punish them for their misfortune? There continues to this day a blame game, a punitive reactive system that we really ought to grow past and beyond. If a man has violent outbursts we must restrain them. But punish them? No. And what in the case of Tony Blair? Was it not the random chance of his brain that constructed a narrative of murderous religious zeal, not unlike the Christian god that spoke to Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and told him what to do. It is by his actions that a person should be judged, not his reasoning. A malfunctioning motor neurone system causing tics and an inner narrative are invisible to the outsider and which ever causes the death of someone you love is of little consolation.

Susan Cain asks, in her book on introverts, why this seemingly disadvantageous temperament has not been evolved out of us? The same question remains regarding schizophrenia. A condition that massively reduces life expectancy and hugely increases the chance of suicide is as prevalent in all types of society and also at all times throughout history. Cain suggests the introvert who feels deeper embarrassment, deeper empathic pain, traits that hinder progress, may find that these are traits that are part of a strategy of deeper thought and greater reflection. The extrovert may catch the first worm but catch with little knowledge of how to eat it. The introvert arrives wastes less energy and arrives equped with knowledge gained from having considered their move. So where is the balancing part of the schizoid 'strategy'? Sebastian Faulkes in his epic Human Traces suggests that it maybe a necessary hazard in the development of human consciousness. That we, as a species incur the regular schizoid casualties as a consequence of self awareness. Others have remarked on the historic superstitious belief in the partnership of madness and creativity. It doesn't take long spent in disturbed wings of mental hospitals to put this myth to bed. Or is there a mid point. On the brink of making the wrong connections maybe lies the ground of those who make new connections; fresh ideas for the tribes advance. The recent spat between the evolutionary biologists Wilson and Dawkins over whether the individual or the hive should be seen as the self replicating unit has simmered down expanding our views leaving me to think that it is not really a matter of just selfishly continuing ones own genetic line. Many animals have individuals that are gene linear sacrificial for the group benefit. So if we are accept that schizophrenia is of no advantage to the individual but that it may, at times help the group, how and in what ways can making the wrong connections, hearing voices and generally being subject to delusions be of any use?

This New Truth

In an earlier posting I wrote about watching a kestrel hovering. The bird keeps its eyes in a fixed point in space by flying in to the infinitely complex turbulence of the on coming wind, adjusting its wings and tail in subtle instantaneous reactivity.  Doing this is way beyond any machine so far made by man. If the bird used conscious thought and decision to do this it would have a superior brain to us. We carry out equally complex tasks. Learning to ride a bicycle requires thought and attention yet once learned we can ride and think about other things. Down hill cycling offload can be exhilarating. Our consciousness undergoes a loss of self as our mind must use all attention to cope with the quickly altering and unpredictable terrain. Doing this kind of thing with conscious thought is impractical. Anyone who plays pool will know how thinking about it is a sure fire way to do it badly.
From this we see that our consciousness, the part we brag about, the bit we think puts us above animals in a hierarchy that only our particular species of narcistic primate believes in, is not even our best part. From dance to football, from playing violin to making furniture, from song to painting, our most special moments occur once we lose self consciousness.
The neurological studies on decision making that have shown decisions are taken before we are conscious of making them clarify something many have long thought. That we act then work out a narrative to explain our actions to ourselves. That the idea of a self, the mind body dualism, is not a true picture. The analogy some use of a man steering an unruly elephant is even too strong. We are more alike animals than even Drwin suggested. There is little difference between me and my dog. His decisions to go play, to look to be fed, to go walking out are no more than mine. Human consciousness plays but a melody on top.
The implications for this are vast. If there is no skree pilot of the skree body then I must accept that free will in many ways is an illusion. The drug addict is not responsible for his nature. Of course once ones nature is known then ones duty is to take steps to control its worst excesses. In my case a propensity to want to alter my consciousness through drugs and alcohol. I have a moral duty to curtail my worst excesses. For other deviances that a decent society can not accept; kleptomaniacs, paedophiles, rapists, must all be kept under control. If individuals are found to have sufficient neuroplasticity then they should be trained so there brains work differently. If they can not be changed then we must keep them at a safe distance. But we can not blame them for they are no more responsible for their nature than they are responsible for their gender or race.
The loss of self, a condition Buddhists aspire to, the state of flow. Gilbert Ryle, Candace Pert, Bruce Hood, Sam Harris, Malcolm Gladwell all are on to the same thing. Some come at it from old routes, Buddhism , yoga. Some from philosophy, the break away from descartes myth of the ghost in the machine. My personal journey to the idea came from believing first that making is thinking and secondly from my intuitive insight that I act then work out why I did it rather than the reverse that we grow up believing.
If we are this little in control it explains why many things re so hard. Why certain mental states appear to be so unavoidable. Why with some relationships, however much we endeavour to start again, we always return to pattern. Why, even though we know our actions are destroying our environment it seems beyond us to do much about it. It may appear fatalistic. Many turn away, preferring to remain under the illusion. But universal centrality, an idea blown apart by Galileo, being above the animals, a chosen beast of the divinity, these have fallen through revealing a far more wondrous truth. We must accept and learn. Reposition ourselves and think again.

Bought more picture space

Lunar Delivery

Loaded up the van and drove down to Exmoor. The weather had dried up and the cold on its way. The farm house is up on the edge of the moors looking down over Porlock and the Bristol Channel.

After unloading and assembling the two beds I  took two more thick yew boards and set off on the journey home. I confess that prior to this I had not quite understood the beauty of the place. It gets its fair share of rain, the waters flow down off the moors, tiny roads, barely fit for motor vehicles are your sole connect. Yet as I got on to the top of exmoor, the sun was setting to my right across the heather and gorse in a myriad of reds and golds. To my left the full moon rose across the bay, jupiter clear by its side. It made sense. I couldnt keep my eyes on the road so pulled over to drink it in.

Deadline done I stayed up with the moon that accompanied me home. 

Chair in Lead Crystal and Wenge