Reply to comment

            The “I-box” within our brains is supposedly synonymous with conscious thought.  I like the idea, but our class discussion left me wanting more.  My understanding of the “I-box” is that inputs are directed through it and the behavior or output that results is what some want to call conscious activity.  However, due to the topographical layout of the nervous system not all inputs travel through the “I-box”.  These inputs still produce outputs, but these are what people call unconscious behavior. 

            An example of unconscious behavior would be Christopher Reeves’ response to me pinching his toe; his foot jerks away but if I were to ask Christopher if that hurt he would say no.  I agree with our conclusion that the topographical layout of the nervous system is responsible for his foot jerking away.  A topographic anatomy and its ability to respond to stimuli (such as me pinching foot) seems logical.  Since this system makes sense and ostensibly protects organisms from harm, I don’t understand the need for an “I-box”.  The nervous system should be able to sense and react to all possibly harmful stimuli and react accordingly to keep us safe.  I feel like having an “I-Box” might actually complicate matters or put us in more danger than we otherwise would be in if we were simply boxes all the way down.   But, I guess some would argue that’s what makes us humans.  That being a human being isn’t easy and that sometimes our inputs are shunted through this “I-box” that forces us to make difficult decisions about how to proceed with the outputs (or something like that). 

But then that brings us to the question of, are humans the only organisms that posses this “I-box”?  Part of me wants to say yes, because even though my hand might me in excruciating pain on a hot stove, I can (for a while) resist my nervous system’s immediate response to pull away.  I do not think that a cat would have the willpower to hold its paw on the hot stove.  On the other hand, I don’t think that cats go through their entire lives behaving unconsciously.  Cats don’t act on instinct alone.  I think they are capable of learning and consciously rubbing up against a person’s leg when they want food.  They think about what they want, remember what they did last time to get it and reenact the behavior.  I guess this is what one would call a trained cat.  But, is there a difference between being trained to do something and learning to do something?  We potty train our children, but we teach them the ABCs.  What is the difference?

Well, that was very much all over the place.  My apologies, I have a lot going through my I-box right now.