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alexandra mnuskin's picture

Christopher Reeves and that tree in the forest

Thinking about Christopher Reeves and the I-function made me realize that we are actually back to the same tree falling in the forest problem. Because of his exaggerated I-function Christopher Reeves does not experience pain to the region below his damaged spinal chord. If someone pinches his toe his foot will jerk away, but his brain will not actually process the pain. One could think about that tree as Christopher Reeves. It is chopped down in an empty wood. If someone were there they would hear it making a noise. But because no one is there and because the tree can’t process the noise, not having ears or indeed even a nervous system, the noise doesn’t exist….just like the pain doesn’t exist for Christopher Reeves simply because he too cannot process it. All of this brings us back to the Emily Dickinson question….does any sensation, experience or idea actually exist without a brain to process it?

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