| Churchland, P. Can Neurobiology teach us anything about consciousness ? Proceedings and Adresses of the American Philosophical Association 1994 [html] |
| Human nervous systems display an impressive roster of complex capacities, including the following: perceiving, learning and remembering, planning, deciding, performing actions, as well as the capacities to be awake, fall asleep, dream, pay attention, and be aware. Although neuroscience has advanced spectacularly in this century, we still do not understand in satisfying detail how any capacity in the list emerges from networks of neurons.[1] We do not completely understand how humans can be conscious, but neither do we understand how they can walk, run, climb trees or pole vault. Nor, when one stands back from it all, is awareness intrinsically more mysterious than motor control. Balanced against the disappointment that full understanding eludes us still, is cautious optimism, based chiefly on the nature of the progress behind us. For cognitive neuroscience has already passed well beyond what skeptical philosophers once considered possible, and continuing progress seems likely. |
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