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Robot Makes People Feel Like a Ghost Is Nearby

Posted by Soulskill on from the g-g-g-g-ghost?!?! dept.

sciencehabit writes: In 2006, cognitive neuroscientist Olaf Blanke of the University of Geneva in Switzerland was testing a patient's brain functions before her epilepsy surgery when he noticed something strange. Every time he electrically stimulated the region of her brain responsible for integrating different sensory signals from the body, the patient would look behind her back as if a person was there, even when she knew full well that no one was actually present. Now, with the help of robots, Blanke and colleagues have not only found a neurological explanation for this illusion, but also tricked healthy people into sensing "ghosts," they report online in Current Biology (abstract). The study could help explain why schizophrenia patients sometimes hallucinate that aliens control their movements.

3 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. In spite of this and other similar phenomena... by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Dualists are still staggeringly common.

    Why are so many people so adamant about the notion that consciousness can't come from the physical brain?

    1. Re:In spite of this and other similar phenomena... by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's not about how silly things sound, it's about how directly contrary to observable reality Cartesian Dualism is. I'm pretty flexible about people believing things for no reason, hell I do too, but dualism at this point, is, like creationism, plain old science denial.

      Sorry... but you've got 2 old guys claiming some crazy stuff that makes no logical sense as far as the layman is concerned. They both claim to have rock solid proof. None of witch makes any sense. Neither you, nor I, can test any of it. I, like you, chose to believe that quantum physics is real. But to lambaste the religious side for being stupid? I'm sorry, I'm just not there.

      I have faith that physicists have done their work well, and are impartial and not lying to me. But my mother that attends church feels the same way about her pastor. I do not have enough time left in my life to turn around and learn the skills I'd need to actually verify what scientist have told me, nor the money to buy the equipment. So I therefor am going on faith, just like my mother. It would be the hight of hypocrisy for me to scold her for doing the exact same thing I'm doing.

      I'm not saying you should dump this science nonsense and start going to church. I'm saying you should get off your high horse and let people believe what they want to.

    2. Re:In spite of this and other similar phenomena... by narcc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Both examples pretty clearly demonstrate the physical nature of our consciousness

      Ah, but they don't! That's the rub.

      The first example is no different than saying that damaging the yolk coil on my old TV proves that the pictures are produced entirely within the set and that all those 'radioists' are a bunch of religious fools.

      To the second, you could replace 'drug addiction' with 'need to pee'. The desire to satisfy a physical discomfort doesn't tell us anything about the nature of consciousness other than the fact that people generally prefer to be comfortable.

      Like I said before, you can reject dualism for any number of reasons, just not those.

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics