Recent finding appears to deliver powerful evidence that mind is probably produced by the brain?

There is a recent finding that has been published that appears to suggest that mind is produced by the brain. I will link to the article at the bottle of this post. However, I think there is another explanation that is just as credible than assuming that the brain has a on and off switch for consciousness. That is that when you stimulate the brain and in this case it was the claustrum, that the brain blocks out consciousness, memories until the blocker's electrical stimuli is turned off then consciousness returns. In this view the on and off switch is just a metaphor. This finding then appears to be consistent with the view that the brain is a blocker/reducing value/receiver/filter of consciousness rather than the producer of consciousness.

Read more here:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/elusive-on-off-switch-found-for-human-consciousness-140707.htm

User named Midnightrunner silly argument

He says this "If I get a video camera and place it in a room and turn it on and lock the door, then come back the next day there will be footage on the tape of the room yet no human observer was present. You seem to be saying that nothing exists outside of subjective experience (consciousness). So how do you explain this? It’s clear that an objective material world exists outside of consciousness. The videotape experiment easily demonstrates this".

A clear refutation is found here as I quote from physicist Andre Linde

"A recording device cannot play the role of an observer, because who will read what is written on this recording device? In order for us to see that something happens, and say to one another that something happens, you need to have a universe, you need to have a recording device, and you need to have us. It's not enough for the information to be stored somewhere, completely inaccessible to anybody. It's necessary for somebody to look at it. You need an observer who looks at the universe. In the absence of observers, our universe is dead".

A full rebuttal to the Mrs. Piper criticisms

The first part will be from me the second part all credit goes to user named Ben Steigmann. First the argument that muscle reading can explain Mrs. Piper's readings and thought transference.

I don’t think telepathy had nothing to do with it. This link I will have down before clearly points out that muscle reading has been shown to be inadequate to explain Piper’s readings. Here is a small sample of what Ben Steigmann had to say:

The following shows intellectual dishonesty on the part of McCabe and Rational Wiki (and also the wikipedia article on Myers, which was obviously edited by the same person who put in the info on Rational Wiki):
Part of the Rational Wiki article on Frederic Myers is an attempt to attack him on his sexual activities, including vague allegations of sexual relations with mediums biasing his arguments. Then we come upon this misrepresentative assault (this version is from the Rational Wiki article on Myers as of November 14, 2013, 1:03 PST):
"The skeptic Joseph McCabe discovered false information in Myers book Phantasms of the Living (1886) a book which documented anecdotal experiences of apparitions and phantasms. Myers included an alleged "personal experience" by a retired Judge Edmund Hornby involving a visitation from a spirit, however the whole thing was a hoax and Hornby admitted there was no truth in it. Myers did not do proper research on the subject."
The reality is quite different, and when we conduct a full investigation into this, we gain extreme doubt that the RW coverage of spiritualism or any other subject they don't like is in any way reliable or, in the cases where they may accurately cite sources, if it is in any way objective. As follows:
First, McCabe did repeat such insinuations, but not in the manner alleging that Myers made things up, as RW editors defamatorily insinuate. He states of Edmund Hornby that he "could only mutter that he did not understand his own mistake": https://archive.org/stream/isspiritualismba00mccarich#page/98/mode/2up
Doing relevant primary source research we find, when we come upon commentary concerning this and the argument of Balfour that McCabe cites against this anecdote (The Nineteenth Century, Volume 16, p. 851: http://books.google.com/books?id=K9YaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA75&dq=Visible+apparitions.+Nineteenth+century+1884&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6huFUpefBOOrjAL4g4GIBw&sqi=2&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=courtesy%20in%20sending%20me%20Mr.%20Balfour%27s%20letter&f=false) - you may have to scroll down to the correct page, that Hornby's defense against the assertions of Balfour, showing that even if the story can be disputed, Myers did not fabricate information - and also that McCabe gave a MARKEDLY BIASED presentation that did not represent the substance of the argument - Hornby did not state "that he did not understand his own mistake", but instead, Hornby directly challenges Balfour. He may be wrong, but the fact is that tone of the RW towards Myers on this is over the top (allegations of false information - implying he fabricated it, rather than contentious information - the assertion is that Hornby stated that there was no truth in it, such an assertion ignores his statement "If I had not believed, as I still believe, that every word of it [the story] was accurate, and that my memory was to be relied on, I should not have ever told it as a personal experience.")
Regarding Myers and his sexual activities - possibly he did have an affair with Freer. Possibly he didn't. In McLuhan's mental mediums document he provides the following citation regarding other allegations r.e. Myers: Gauld, Alan & Salter, W.H. FREDERIC MYERS AND ‘PHYLLIS’, Journal 42, 1963-64, pp. 316-24. Defences of Myers against an attack on his integrity regarding his relationship with Annie Marshall.
See also Journal 43, pp. 277-81. CC/MM/s-test
The point is that no proof is given that he faked evidence. What has just been proven is that debunkers faked evidence against him.



All credit to Ben Steigmann in his excellent rebuttals on skeptic arguments against mediums. You can read all the other comments in made here at the link below. Midnightrunner a user on the Neurologica blog mentioned that, Ben is into conspiracy theories. Well I ain't into conspiracy theories at all but, Midnightrunner is using that as a way to counter all the arguments he made refuting skeptical arguments against medium Leonora Piper.

The source of the comments can be found here. http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/2013/12/there-probably-is-an-afterlife.html.

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The Afterlife debate: Is Death is Final?

Recently there was a debate about if death is the end of existence or a continuation into life after bodily death. Well on the pro side you had Dr. Raymond Moody a near death experience researcher as well as Neurosurgeon Dr. Eben Alexander who had a near death experience. On the con side you had Neurologist at Yale University Dr. Steven Novella and physicist Sean Carroll. At the beginning Sean Carroll mentioned why he thinks physics shows that its very unlikely that there can be any sort of an afterlife. Dr. Raymond Moody when on a spree about philosophy and Dr. Eben Alexander went on about his near death experiences also mentioning Dr. Carl Sagan. Before I even watched it which was hard to watch to put it mildly I already knew who was going to win. Because the pro side instead of mentioning the overwhelming evidence for survival instead just went on about his near death experience and didn't present himself well the same with Raymond Moody.


Dr. Steven Novella mentions that Ian Stevenson's work on reincarnation can probably be explain by contamination, where does he get the source of information that contamination was probably a factor well from skeptic dictionary. Obviously Steven has actually done any real research on Ian Stevenson's work if he did he would have known that Ian Stevenson went out of his way to do everything possible to make sure contamination wasn't a factor. He mentions another source that being the late Barry Beyerstein conjecture that the cases that Ian Stevenson brings out show internal inconsistencies. Then, says "Along the way, we are treated to some hilarious examples of gullibility among those seized by the will to believe". My response to that is true sometimes people can show gullibility but does it apply here? I don't think it does. Steven, also said that its a scientific fact that the mind is produced by the brain. Of course, ignoring the fact that other scientists that are naturalist's like him such as John Searle mentions its a preassumption that the mind is produced by the brain but if you accept that then you can at least make some headway. We know how that progress is going and its not so good.


The failure of behaviorism for example assumed that mind can be explained by the behavior of the brain. Then, besides the overwhelming evidence for psi and survival. We have cases such as terminal lucidity where patients with advanced dementia are able to get their memories back shortly before their deaths. Sean Carroll as intelligent as he is seems to be aware of parallel universes but obviously doesn't bring it up when he is trying to argue against an afterlife. Because, he knows that if their is parallel universes and there is a lot of mounting evidence supporting it now. That, it would weaken his case strongly because it also entails quantum immortality that our consciousness continues on after death and cannot be extinguish by death.


Dr. Steven Novella also mentions that the evidence for mind is produced by the brain is mounting more and more everyday. That couldn't be further from the truth the nature of causation is not known. Sure scientists can make assumptions by assuming that the causation runs from mind to brain as Dr. Steven Novella clearly does but assuming so doesn't make it so

A little update on this post I was recently discussing how the mind is probably not produced by the brain on Steven Novella's blog called Neurologica. The whole thing was a waste of time I knew it would it be but I though maybe just maybe one of the skeptics on there was open minded to at least admit that there is strong evidence for an afterlife and psi phenomena and say I don't know if there is or isn't an afterlife.

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Rebuttal to Adam Who on the Infidels forum

Adam Who recently made some comments on the infidels forum accusing believers as he calls them for making up excuses, lame arguments etc.

Here is what he said about believers

There are countless posters over the years which have come with many tactics but one of the favorites is the 'JAQing off' (Just asking a question) game

1. Come with an agenda. (creationist, psuedoscience, politics you name it... even pedophiles and neo-nazis)

- Talking about agenda how ironic he's made it perfectly clear that he's got an agenda from his responses he gave me as well as other posters.

2. Start with "I am just asking a question" when they had no intention of actually listening or learning something.

3. When confronted with facts they play the "oh your so closed minded" card or if they have taken a philosophy class they might use "but we really cannot know anything"

I don't remember me saying your so closed minded I just refuted him with counter arguments that he didn't like. Also, many times I was listening to their replys to my own posts however none of them hold any water. That of course makes them go on the defensive.

4. When finally cornered and called on their BS. They will either lash-out and windup getting banned, pretend some false humility and start JAQ with the next idea or a new naive poster, or they just might leave.

Yes cornered by a bunch of naturalists who are not willing to consider the possibility that they maybe wrong.

5. Repeat as needed


Not necessary


Adam- The bottom line is that this forum has always been about debunking and that can be an ugly business for the true believers.

Yes your correct Adam and I would urge anyone who has looked at the evidence for life after death and psi to stay clear of the infidels forum. Because they will go to such lengths as attacking your character calling you mentally unstable among other things.


He also goes on and says that pseudoscientists use scientism to discredit naturalist scientists who use facts and evidence.

"In practice it is an attempt to discredit someone who uses facts and evidence to trump the subjective experiences or feelings of a believer".

- No it isn't its naturalist scientists who use apriori assumptions on the nature of reality.