Week 7 | Neuroscience + Art | Maya Srinivasan

The topic for this week (neuroscience and its connections to art) reminded me of a philosophical problem I learned about in one of my previous classes. The 'brain in a vat' scenario, an interpretation of Cartesian skepticism, is essentially the idea of choosing to believe (for the sake of the scenario) that your entire being simply consists of a brain that is connected to wires and controlled by a scientist. The scientist can mimic the real world, making it so you believe that you're a real human being. The result of this scenario forces the individual to ask themselves if "all of [their] beliefs about the external world are false," requiring a deep analysis of what consciousness truly is (Hickey). 


A comic depicting the 'brain in a vat' scenario

As Professor Vesna states in her lectures, the definition of consciousness is "a sense of one’s personal or collective identity, including the attitude, beliefs, and sensitivities held by an individual or group" (Vesna).  When considering the "brain in a vat" scenario, it seems as though a person's thoughts, beliefs, and identity become fake in a sense. It begs the question of whether or not true personhood or legitimate consciousness is connected to physical bodies. I believe Carl Jung's statement regarding interpersonal knowledge is fitting for this argument as he declares that "everything I have observed lies in the psyche- it is all inside" (Jung 3). 

Hippocampus by Tamily Weissman 


Cerebellum and Brainstem by Greg Dunn

Moving away from philosophical arguments, I want to note that artwork plays an immense role in understanding the human brain. For example, Santiago Ramón y Cajal's drawings of neurons resulted in "the recognition of the neuron’s fundamental role in the nervous function and in gaining a modern understanding of the nerve impulse" (Encyclopedia Britannica). Additionally, artists Olesya Ilyenok, Marina Muzyka, and Andrey Chugunov developed "three artificial-intelligence-based computing systems inspired by human brain networks" that "represent the brain's ability to form abstract images" (Leman and Tormes). 

We may never fully understand what consciousness truly is or how the brain manages to process information so quickly, but, in the meantime, we can enjoy the art that arises from our current knowledge of the brain. 

(Below is a link to the aforementioned artists' creation:) 



References:

Bernicker, Brendan, et al. “Thought Experiments .” Thought Experiments, Penn State University, 28 Jan. 2016, https://sites.psu.edu/bernickerpassionblog/2016/01/28/brain-in-a-vat/. 

Dunn, Greg, and Linda Codega. “Elucidating the Nature of Human Consciousness through Art.” Garrison Institute, 19 Oct. 2017, https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/blog/human-consciousness-art/. 

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Santiago Ramón y Cajal.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Apr. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Santiago-Ramon-y-Cajal. 

Hickey, Lance P. “The Brain in a Vat Argument.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2022, https://iep.utm.edu/brain-in-a-vat-argument/. 

Ilyenok, Olesya, et al. “Pt9 - AF:CFFIIV.” Vimeo, 9 May 2022, https://vimeo.com/333039838. 

Jung, Carl. “The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man.” The Collected Works, 1928, pp. 219–233., https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203721049-20. 

Leman, Jennifer, and Liz Tormes. “The Brain in Images: Top Entries in the Art of Neuroscience.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 29 July 2019, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-in-images-top-entries-in-the-art-of-neuroscience1/. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience + Art Lecture 1 .” Neuroscience + Art . 10 May 2022. 

Weissman, Tamily. “Cell Picture Show - Hippocampus.” CellPress, 2007, https://www.cell.com/pictureshow/brainbow. 



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