Existential quandry
Recently I have been thinking a lot about consciousness again
I believe it is Descartes’ view point (correct me if I’m wrong) of duality that keeps coming to mind. Cogito ergo sum. The idea that in order to be aware of oneself one must be, in a sense, separate from oneself. There is a disconnect in order for self awareness to occur. When I think about myself, what “I” am, it is as if a piece of my mind isolates itself from the rest. My internal monolog is this isolated part of my brain. It sits and observes everything that is going on. It is really not necessary for my biological survival, but it seems essential for my consciousness, my awareness. Is this part of the mind what could be termed a soul? Is it really separate from the rest? And what is it? Does it exist at all physically? Is it a bunch of electrical impulses?
I am very tempted to (eventually) go back to school and study this stuff, but several things are making me nervous, namely: 1) What the heck do you do with such a degree? 2) Where do I go to study such things that does not involve biomedical research on animals? 3) Will I be able to get into a program with virtually no formal training/education in philosophy or psychology? And probably most importantly: 4) Will objectifiying consciousness ruin the fun?
Ugh. The brain is such a wonderfully strange organ.