One of the more interesting books that I read over the Christmas break is called "Incognito: The secret lives of the brain" by David Eagleman. And yes, the "lives" in the title is plural because it is Dr. Eagleman's contention that we are more than we seem to be.
Indeed, if I can sum up his book in a single thesis statement (which is highly unfair as it is a complex and interesting book) it would be that our consciousness is an observer watching the conflicting battles between the myriad of actors operating within our sub-consciousness.
Dr. Eagleman brings his considerable knowledge of neuroscience and psychology to bear on the question of what constitutes our inner self. What is thought? And why do we bother with it?
His book would have been even better if he could have actually provided an answer to those questions. Unfortunately, and as he rightly points out, we are still too early in the game to fully understand why we understand and think and feel and do all of the other things that are minds and brains seem to make happen.
But early on in the book, he does make the case that dethroning past views of the mind and brain with a more modern synthesis is not a bad thing. Indeed, science has on many occasions forced a major rethink of our world view and, in so doing, advanced our overall understanding of the universe.
Take, for example, the work of Galileo Galilei. He observed the night time sky with wonder as most of us do. But early in 1610, he went a step further and utilized a new technological marvel to study stars.
The telescope was a boon to astronomers. Galileo's was a simple instrument that could achieve a 20-fold increase in magnification - just good enough that when he observed Jupiter, he was able to discern three fixed stars in a straight line across the middle of the planet. It was a formation that caught his eye and attention. What were these stars?
When he returned to his observations the next night, he noted that the stars had moved relative to Jupiter. And, indeed, as he watched on succeeding nights, the points of light continued to move in a fashion that suggested that they orbited the planet.
This was an Earth-shattering event. Or maybe a better way to put it is that it was a celestial sphere shattering event. Up to that point, the popular consensus was that all of the stars in the sky circled the Earth on rigid celestial spheres. The Earth was the centre of everything.
But these points of light showed Galileo that other objects in the night time sky - such as Jupiter - were at the centre of their own mini-solar system. These lights were moons orbiting another planet. And with that, the notion that the Earth was the center of the universe was dislodged from the astronomical sciences for all time.
Of course, other astronomers had to verify Galileo's work. Bigger and better telescopes eventually allowed astronomers to view other planets and their moons. Our world view was changed forever.
As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe observed some two hundred years later:
"Of all the discoveries and opinions, none may have exerted a greater effect on the human spirit... The world had scarcely become as round and complete in itself when it was asked to waive the tremendous privilege of being the centre of the universe. Never, perhaps, was a greater demand made of mankind - for by this admission so many things vanished in mist and smoke!"
Of course, embracing the new world view - that we are not the center of the universe - was not something that the establishment was comfortable with. Galileo was imprisoned and eventually forced to recant his theory. But, as the story goes, he is said to have muttered as he walked off the witness stand: "It still moves."
In any case, shifting our world view to a Sun-centered solar system opened up a whole vista of possibilities. It led to our present understanding of our galaxy and the billions and billions of galaxies beyond. It has given rise to the Big Bang Theory and our search for dark matter and energy. It was, as Thomas Kuhn would put it, a paradigm shift.
Many other aspects of modern science have arisen out of similar if not quite as groundbreaking paradigm shifts. Geological time, evolution, atomic structure, quantum mechanics - all have forced science into rethinking the way that we view the universe and perhaps more importantly, our place in it.
One could make - and, indeed, Dr. Eagleman does make - the case that the last bastion of the unexplored lies within. Understanding how and why we think will finally allow for a complete picture of human existence.
Exploring our selves is the last great frontier.
