From Stephen Godden
Miroslav Hundak states that physical changes in the brain create variations in conscious experience, proving that consciousness must be controlled by the physical properties of the brain (10 April, p 24).
However, if we take a mechanistic analogy we see that the correlation may not be causal. An engine could be running perfectly, despite being impossible to observe or study. If its linkages and gears are damaged or altered then its interactions with the external world would change. A person unaware of the engine’s existence might believe that the gears are in fact the engine, but that would not be the case.
Damage to the brain, which can alter the awareness of consciousness, is no more than a sign that when the machinery used to access consciousness is damaged, the experience of consciousness changes. It does not prove that the brain is the source of consciousness. It may well turn out that body/mind duality is an illusion, but the statement that damage to one proves the non-existence of the other is not evidence.
Abergwynfi, West Glamorgan, UK
