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The discomforting truth is that in our consciousness we all have interpreters narrating our lives, and they are all just guessing. We all confabulate, all the time. We are moving around the world, doing things and feeling things and saying things, for myriad unconscious reasons, while a specific part of our brain constantly strives to create a makes-sense narrative of what we are up to and why.
But the voice has no direct access to the real reasons.

‘When we set out to explain our actions, they are all post-hoc explanations using post-hoc observations with no access to non-conscious processing,’ writes neuroscientist Gazzaniga.

Matias 8 Oct 8
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5 comments

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Are you implying that we lack free will?

@Matias Incredibly, we agree! My question was rhetorical. 😉

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I had to be conscience just to read your post therefore I just do not seem to agree with you on this matter. I keep asking my inner voice but nothing is coming back.

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‘When we set out to explain our actions, they are all post-hoc explanations using post-hoc observations with no access to non-conscious processing,’ writes neuroscientist Gazzaniga."

Yes, I think so as well, but normally it makes no difference. We get around quite well and normally with our post hoc explanations, We live sensibly with pre-consciousness un-conceptualized awareness of the our senses whose datum are automatically constructed into the continued coherence of reality, and we don't normally have to think about it. But our history, language, culture... shapes and stylizes the world we sense, the world we construct for ourselves.

cava Level 7 Oct 8, 2018
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Maybe it’s like if we had a self-driving car. We would have to give instructions at the beginning of a trip but all the details would be up to the system. We probably wouldn’t know why a particular route was selected. We certainly wouldn’t have any control over the brakes, etc. There would be ways of consciously overriding some of the decisions, but too much of that would become tedious or even dangerous and also less efficient.

Best to sit back and relax. Key truth into your subconscious and trust it to get you safely to your goal. That way you have time to enjoy the scenery and also to talk with your friends.

I am not sold on the theory that consciousness is produced by the brain however. That’s still a mystery IMO. My subconscious mind tells me otherwise but I don’t know why.

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I don’t think we even ask ourselves why we have done something unless it proves to have had disastrous consequences. It is only when someone else asks us why we did a certain thing that we would normally employ thought process to try to recall the reasoning behind our actions.

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