The Ghost in the Machine

lt started with a book and it started over the summer, when technically speaking I wasn't thinking of Poetry for Scientists, though I'm always thinking of PfS, like how everything Kermit the frog thinks of is actually in relation to Ms. Piggy, though you'd never expect Kermit to know it let alone acknowledge it, really.

Anyways, the book is titled, The Reenactments by Nick Flynn (it's a very good book).  In it I was introduced to the concept of The Ghost in the Machine - and it really had an impact on me - I couldn't help but to wonder, what are the metaphorical possibilities of this concept?  How does it enable us to understand ourselves better, I mean, that's what metaphors are about, no?

The concept is grounded in Descartes, dualism - and I'm going to be honest - Descartes' outdated in a very serious way - his ideas were, well, his ideas - and I'm surprised as a philosophy major the extent to which his work is still such a integral part of the curriculum - he was just wrong about a lot of stuff, though I suppose his process enabled a closer approximation to, I don't know, reality?  I'm not going there - not tonight -

Dualism - let's stick with that.  Descartes thought that because the physical self is endlessly divisible and the mind is completely indivisible (his idea, not mine), that the mind and the body were two completely separate entities.  Furthermore, the mind isn't distinguishable from the soul, and the soul is eternal, it doesn't decay with the rest of our cells - it is, a completely separate entity.  The concept of The Ghost in The Machine is rooted here.  It is the way we refer to ourselves as if there is an "I" that can refer to the self - it is sometimes referred to as, the homunculus - a "little man" living inside of our heads, who sees with our eyes and listens with our ears - check this link out for a very articulate portrayal of the concept http://theskepticalzone.com/wp/?p=2514.  And to really blow your mind, consider that if there really is a "little man" living in our heads, consciousness, a soul, whatever you want to call it (him?), what of the "little man" in his head, huh?  what about that?  They have a term for it - the principle of infinite regression - and personally, just as a side note, I found that The Principle of Infinite Regression, makes for an excellent form in a poem (read my free write if you want to know what I mean).  

The point is this - on Wednesday 9/11/13, Poetry for Scientists met for our first official meeting of the semester - we talked about this concept, The Ghost in The Machine - I wrote a definition on the whiteboard - a few people chimed in with their thoughts, and then we sat in silence for 15 minutes and wrote about whatever associations arose while we learned something about this concept, rooted in 17th century philosophy, and since evolved into an interest of neuroscientists and (apparently) poets alike.

This is what we do.  We meet, one of us leads a brief discussion on a topic of personal interest, we write about what this topic brings up for us - we share what we write, and we go home - it's really a meaningful experience and whether we like it or not, I'm pretty sure this exercise is making us all care about each other a little bit, and then a little bit more.