-
Essay / The brain: correlation, unity and damage
Correlation vs causality. Correlation is different from causation. Causality is the relationship between cause and effect; the action of causing something. Whereas correlation occurs when two or more events occur around the same time and may possibly be associated but do not have a direct cause and effect relationship. A better explanation given in our book is that there is a point A and a point B. Additionally, there can be three possible explanations: A can cause B, B can cause A, but there is always a third factor C. Factor C can be the cause of both A and B. Whatever the explanation, you can understand why it is so easy to confuse it. Wegner's theory states that it is "the confusion between correlation and causation that leads us to think that our thoughts are the cause of our actions." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original Unity trial. I found this section extremely intriguing. I found myself really captivated by the section on blindsight and split personalities. Blindsight is the ability to react to visual information without consciously seeing it. It makes me think of when I make my way through my house at night without any lights on. I live in the country, so when the lights are out, it's dark everywhere in my house. Yet somehow I can find my way from the bedroom, down the hall, and into my bathroom. Or even just walk across the room and turn on the lamp. I can't see my hand in front of my face, but I know exactly where the switch is on the wall. I imagine it would be like how a blind person is able to move around their house or detect objects. I always assumed that by losing or not having one meaning, others would be strengthened. I also found myself captivated by the split personality. I don't completely understand it but I find it extremely fascinating. I was looking forward to taking abnormal psychology and criminal psychology classes in hopes that one of the classes would delve deeper into this topic. It seems that many children who commit heinous crimes at a young age suffer from this disorder. I'm curious what causes this. I also understand that research shows that many people tormented by various types of abuse are commonly diagnosed with a split personality. I can even understand why this might have happened, but I want to understand more deeply why. Damaged brains. This section also caught my attention, but I feel like it was more because of the familiarity of the topic than my interest in learning more. Much of the focus has been on amnesia, which is usually caused by brain damage, illness, or psychological trauma. The two different types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde, affect the mind in different ways. Anterograde is the inability of the mind to transfer new information from short-term memory to long-term memory. However, backsliding is the inability to retrieve information acquired before a specific date, such as memories of your life before an accident. While reading, I thought a lot about my cousin Bobby and his accident. I always wondered what could cause him to become a completely different person. I was quite young when the accident happened, so my understanding at the time was limited. However, I now have a better “medical” idea of what happened during this time. But I never thought about what could have happened.