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Originally Posted by Phaedrus  The brain and in this case the cerebral cortex is a physical manifestation of the expanded consciousness, not vice versa. |
That doesn't make any sense. Take away someone's consciousness and their brain will still be there. But take away their brain and their consciousness will not.
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If consciousness was the product of physical form rather than the directing force behind it than we would be able to re animate someones body after repairing the physical structure damaged by a gunshot or other injury. Just put the blood back in and we are ready to go...
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Sure, if we actually technically knew how to do that and could do it before damage was irreversible. Guess what, we CAN. I have a patient right now who passed out because of hypoglycemia this morning -- he was given intravenous glucose and he regained consciousness. Another patient of mine was unconscious because of hypotension -- restoring blood flow to the brain with IV fluids and vasopressors restored the patient's consciousness. We can even reverse acute strokes now -- if someone presents with an acute stroke, giving thrombolytics that restore blood flow to the brain can actually abort the stroke (but it only works if done within 3 hours -- beyond that the damage is irreversible and we do not have a way to repair it).
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There have been medical cases I know of anecdotally where brain function is inhibited but the awareness is not. These people are trapped in a malfunctioning body. They cannot express what their consciousness is experiencing.
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Are you referring to "locked in" syndrome? That is because their
motor and
language areas, which are in the cerebral cortex are impaired, but their consciousness which is largely in the brainstem is
not.
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An autistic person, under your framework would not be as human because consciousness is a product of the brain which is cross wired, for lack of a better term.
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Hmm, all the autistic patients I've had have been completely conscious. You can't even diagnose autism in someone who is unconscious. Full blown autism is characterized by severe language and social impairment and by idiotypic behaviors. It's a disease state, which almost certainly has a genetic basis.