If you divide my brain in half

[Moot]

There have been reports of split-brain patients where one half of the brain holds different beliefs and opinions than the other.

It seems like an interesting theological question what would happen if one half was a Christian and the other was and atheist for example.

There is this.

Very cool. I've only heard this speculation before. I didn't know there were actual cases.

[TheBigOhMan]

It has always seem to me that consciousness, at least the unity of it, is divisable. You seem to be interested in the subject, so I suggest you read this Plato Stanford entry (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-unity/). They have a section on the brain surgery operation where two parts of the brain are divided.

Since it seems perfectly possible for a half to produce consciousness, it also seems at least at first glance possible to have to independent brain halfs producing consciousness in diferent bodies at the same time. I think the correct answer is that the mind is one, but the consciousness are two.

[Moot]

I think the correct answer is that the mind is one, but the consciousness are two.

How does that work? If there are two consciousness-es with different believes, desires, opinions, emotions, etc, what is the mind and what does it do?

[TheBigOhMan]

There have been reports of split-brain patients where one half of the brain holds different beliefs and opinions than the other.

It seems like an interesting theological question what would happen if one half was a Christian and the other was and atheist for example.

There is this.

Very cool. I've only heard this speculation before. I didn't know there were actual cases.

There is a syndrome that sometimes happens with this operation, which is called alien hand syndrome. In this syndrome, the person still perceives his hand (left or right) as being his hand, but the hand can move and act (like trying to kill him, or masturbate, or grab things) without the person wanting or having any sense of control about it. The reason behind this, I've heard, is basically because the prefrontal, frontal cortex and parietal cortex can be disconnected during this operations, and you require a feedback between these three areas to have a sense of agency about the movements. Since they are disconnected, the frontal cortex (where the movement of the hand happens) occurs, but since there is no feedback between these other areas, you don't feel a sense of "ownership" for this movements, and thus they don't become part of your experience of agency.

[TheBigOhMan]

I think the correct answer is that the mind is one, but the consciousness are two.

How does that work? If there are two consciousness-es with different believes, desires, opinions, emotions, etc, what is the mind and what does it do?

I think the mind goes far more deep than just believes, desires, opinions, emotions and all that, I think it even goes more deep than just mere consciousness. I think this in part comes from a western way of thinking (oriental philosophies may disagree. I've heard buddhist have the concept called Anatta, which is basically the no-self concept).

The general idea of how this may work is upon realization that the self is not any of the things listed above. For example, you are thinking, but you are not the thinking. You are in pain, but you are no the same as the pain, or you can be happy but you are not exactly the same as happiness. So it seems you are not any of those individual things, but you are the "holder" (temporarily) of this things. It doesn't seem that you are neither the fussion of this things, since you can be knocked out with anesthesia and lose every and all of this things, including consciousness, but upon waking up you are still you. If you were just consciousness, it would seem that when you were knocked out, you dissapeared entirely (since no consciousness remained), and upon waking up a copy of you took your place, which doesn't seem to be the case.

So, if you are none of those things, ¿what are you? I think a great part of that lies in the subconscious, which as I see it, guide many aspects of our lifes, the so-called repressed memories, subliminal perception and other phenomenon (which sometimes can mix with the consciousness aspect like in the tip-of-the-tounge effect).

If you split the brain, each part takes a part of this mind (a part of the memories, and neural networks that we don't use for awareness) gets attached with a new consciousness, and another half gets to stay with the other consciousness, but since they both have half the mind, I think the correct answer is that they both, in sum make one mind, that gets two consciousnessess.

[apophenia]

It's my opinion that the things which make us conscious likely depend upon specialized areas of the brain, that it's not apportioned so that each half gets a center of consciousness.  In that sense, if the 'you' is associated with consciousness, and it was divided, only one of the two bodies would still be 'you'.  However, there's a lot of processing the brain can do subconsciously, so I'm not suggesting the non-you portion would be any slouch.  It would still appear very human as only a tiny percentage of what our minds do is located 'within' consciousness.

In fact you got to worry about the side with the conscious mind alone.  How functional would that poor guy be?

I don't think it is likely that consciousness is localized in such a manner.  Typically language usage is lateralized so that it is strongly dependent on the left hemisphere of the brain.  So typically only one half brain is likely to be very effective at communicating its consciouness.  However, neuropsychologists have figured out ways of communicating with both halves of split brain patients, and the results suggest that consciousness is not confined to one hemisphere.

They've figured out ways of communicating with both halves, but it's not clear to me that both halves would necessarily contain what has been termed "the interpreter module."  That module seems an integral part of the conscious experience, and my hunch is that without it, there would be no sensation of experience, as I think it is the interpreter module which is adding that dimension to mind.  I could be wrong.

How would you go about determining whether the non-verbal hemisphere has an experience of 'awareness'?  Is language a necessary part of consciousness?  I'm not suggesting that one half wouldn't have mind, just that it's existence would be qualitatively different, and one of those differences would be that it has no stream of consciousness.

[wonderer]

It's my opinion that the things which make us conscious likely depend upon specialized areas of the brain, that it's not apportioned so that each half gets a center of consciousness.  In that sense, if the 'you' is associated with consciousness, and it was divided, only one of the two bodies would still be 'you'.  However, there's a lot of processing the brain can do subconsciously, so I'm not suggesting the non-you portion would be any slouch.  It would still appear very human as only a tiny percentage of what our minds do is located 'within' consciousness.

In fact you got to worry about the side with the conscious mind alone.  How functional would that poor guy be?

I don't think it is likely that consciousness is localized in such a manner.  Typically language usage is lateralized so that it is strongly dependent on the left hemisphere of the brain.  So typically only one half brain is likely to be very effective at communicating its consciouness.  However, neuropsychologists have figured out ways of communicating with both halves of split brain patients, and the results suggest that consciousness is not confined to one hemisphere.

They've figured out ways of communicating with both halves, but it's not clear to me that both halves would necessarily contain what has been termed "the interpreter module."  That module seems an integral part of the conscious experience, and my hunch is that without it, there would be no sensation of experience, as I think it is the interpreter module which is adding that dimension to mind.  I could be wrong.

How would you go about determining whether the non-verbal hemisphere has an experience of 'awareness'?  Is language a necessary part of consciousness?  I'm not suggesting that one half wouldn't have mind, just that it's existence would be qualitatively different, and one of those differences would be that it has no stream of consciousness.

This book seem like it might be good for some relevant insight.  (I haven't read it.  I bought it once, but loaned it out before reading it, and never got it back.)

[DT1213]

Thanks for the links/book recommendations I shall check them out.

Kind of related is this story:
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35786771

Could you upload your brain into a computer and live forever? Interesting article, all comes back to what it means to be a 'person' again.

[HIJ]

C. I haven't a clue why anyone would think A or B to be true.

[HIJ]

Also, Colin McGinn's "The Character of Mind" has a good chapter on the self/personal identity, if you're interested.