Into the Void

Thought for the Day: Anosognosia

August 15th, 2007

Anosognosia for Hemiplegia: A Window into Self-Awareness

…Anosognosia brings questions of the origin of self-awareness to the forefront. How can someone lose the ability to know when she is or is not moving? Is this some type of elaborate Freudian defense mechanism, or is this person entirely unaware of her illness? How is self-awareness represented in the brain, and is this representation isolated from or attached to awareness of others? Though none of these questions are fully answerable at this time, research into anosognosia has provided scientists and philosophers with insight into some of these ancient questions of human consciousness.

Tags: Anosognosia, evolution, Hemiplegia, mental illness, Self-awareness, Stigma
Posted in Genetics & evolution, Neurology, Quotations | No Comments »

TFTD – on "possibilities"

April 30th, 2006

Our possibilities of experiencing are infinite and infinitely beyond that splinter of awareness we acknowledge, call “normal,” and disclose to others.

Tags: evolution, Knowledge, Self-awareness
Posted in Knowledge, Mental processes & intelligence, Quotations | No Comments »

On Madness and Identity

December 3rd, 2005

“I am interested in madness. I believe it is the biggest thing in the human race, and the most constant. How do you take away from a man his madness without also taking away his identity?”
– William Saroyan (American writer, 1908-1981)

Tags: evolution, Human Interest, Identity, Madness, Self-awareness, sense of self, William Saroyan
Posted in Knowledge, Quotations | No Comments »