by Omar Meriwani | Aug 18, 2024 | Philosophy, Psychology
It might be an unpleasant idea, but if you spit in a cup, can you re-drink your saliva? It seems like once something leaves your body, It’s no longer part of you, similar to hair or nails. This explains how we get our sense of self. Similarly, our bodies are home to...
by Omar Meriwani | Aug 18, 2024 | Philosophy, Psychology
In Chapter 12, Dennett addresses the concept of qualia—the way we subjectively experience things. Many philosophers argue that colours, for instance, are merely mental constructs rather than real properties of objects. Some argue that certain main features, like red,...
by Omar Meriwani | Aug 18, 2024 | Philosophy, Psychology
In Chapter 11, Dennett starts investigating the implications of the multiple drafts model, revisiting the reporting problem introduced in the previous chapter. Chapter 11 is called “dismantling the witness protection program”. Titled “Dismantling the...
by Omar Meriwani | Aug 18, 2024 | Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology
After discussing speech production, Dennett shifts his focus to reporting and expressing our thoughts. The problem with reporting is that it could undo the parallel models that Dennett worked to prove in previous chapters. Multiple drafts, or collaborative demons,...
by Omar Meriwani | Jun 30, 2024 | Evolutionary Psychology, Philosophy, Psychology
The architecture of the human mind is the topic of chapter nine. The lack of a single way to understand the human mind is the first issue that Dennett discusses at the beginning of the chapter. What modules form the human mind? How hard-wired are they? Jerry Fodor...
by Omar Meriwani | Jun 30, 2024 | Evolutionary Psychology, Philosophy, Psychology
“How words do things with us?” is the title of chapter eight. It starts with the idea of how the virtual machines inside us are organised and how they could have a “virtual captain” of the crew, but not elevate the captain to have dictatorial power....
by Omar Meriwani | Jun 30, 2024 | Evolutionary Psychology, Philosophy, Psychology
Dennett begins his discussion of the evolution of consciousness by introducing the Baldwin Effect, which explains the impact of learned behaviour on evolution. This adaptation hastens evolution for an organism, giving it an advantage over hard-wired cousins of the...
