Where does human thought come from? Maybe outside the brain

Daniel bull, a brain neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles; Professor Daniel Siegel believes that human thought is not limited by the brain or even the body, and its source is beyond the scope of human body.

This view seems inconceivable. Because according to the description of medical theory, human thought is inseparable from the brain. Although it is generally believed that the brain is a physical material form, thought is only the function of this material and the comprehensive expression of the electrical activities of various neurons in the brain. However, more and more evidence shows that thought goes beyond the physical function of the human brain and cannot be simply defined as & ldquo; Brain function & rdquo;.

Of course, the human brain plays a very important role. However, Professor Siegel explained in his book mind: a journey to the heart of being human that thought is not limited to the structure in the skull, and even beyond the limits of the human body.

His view began more than 20 years ago. At that time, he attended an academic conference. 40 scientists in different research fields discussed how to understand human thought. Everyone believed that the key factor of thought was the self-organization process of energy and information in individuals or groups. This explanation is also awkward, but it is very innovative. Moreover, this view implies a premise that thought can be extended beyond the individual.

In other words, thought is not only our perception of experience, but also the experience itself. Siegel therefore put forward his view that human thought cannot exist without the communication between people.

“ I know someone will ask such a question & lsquo; How to define coastline & rsquo;, Is it water or sand? I think the coast is both water and sand& rdquo; Siegel said, &; One cannot understand the coastline on the one hand and ignore the other. I have been thinking that perhaps thought is like a coastline, which is the unity of internal and external processes. For anthropologists or sociologists, spiritual life shows complex social characteristics. Then people's thoughts, feelings, memories and interests in the objective world are actually only one aspect of people's thoughts& rdquo;

Other psychologists have proved that thought cannot be simply defined as the function of the brain when studying near death.

According to the research on thousands of near death experiences, Dr. Alexander batthyany, a professor of psychology at the University of Vienna, believes that the near death experience experienced by people under the condition of serious physiological crisis is a kind of thinking activity, but not a function of the brain, because the brain has no physiological functions such as electrical signals in the near death state.

Dr. batyani also pointed out that the phenomenon of reflection also shows that thinking is an extremely complex phenomenon, & ldquo; Brain function & rdquo; It can not explain the normal or even abnormal state of thinking of some people, especially those with Alzheimer's disease.