Daniel C. Dennett's Where am I?



     After yesterday's class I thought it might be a good idea to provide and easy way to access one of the thought experiments we briefly touched on. Daniel Dennett's lecture Where am I offers an interesting thought experiment that grapples with our concepts of identity and consciousness.

    As Heidi summarized, in this thought experiment Dan Dennett for numerous reasons must have his brain removed, and  his disembodied brain communicates with his body through radio transmitters and other technologies so that he may defuse a nuclear device deep underground. There are complications of course and the perceived connections between his spectral consciousness and his corporeal body are examined.

      The lecture is a brilliant read and has been dramatized in a 1988 documentary which I have embedded below. The portion of the film that dramatizes Dennett's lecture Where am I starts approximately 30 minutes into the film, but the who documentary might be worth checking out especially if this type of thing is of particular interest to you. It is a little dated to say the least, but it is still very interesting.

 

 

     Dan Dennett also gave an excellent TED Talk explaining his conception of consciousness which is very different than conventional notions. He touches on freewill as a biological process; the accidental outcome of the trillions of "cellular robots" that make up our bodies. He also highlights various ways the brain is tricked and distracted and easily falls for suggestion to falsely fill in perceived blanks. Ultimately he attempts to demonstrate that we are not as aware of our own consciousness as we believe they are.

 
     Dan Dennett's homepage at Tufts University offers numerous resources and tidbits of information for anybody interested including a brief biography and information about his published works as well as information about his current projects.




Dennett, D. (2003, February). Daniel C. Dennett: The illusion of conciousness.
      http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennett_on_our_consciousness.html
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGywvyUjlqk&feature=gv  Virgil Griffith. "Victim of the Brain"
     Youtube. 4 May 2012. Web. 23  January 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjbWr3ODbAo TedtalksDirector. "Daniel C. Dennett: The illusion
     of conciousness" Youtube. 4 May 2007. Web. 23 January 2013.