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Do you believe the mind receives mind-dependent sense data...?

...or that it receives genuine extramental entities and their attributes?

To put it another way, do we form an image in our mind of the object we have sensed, or do we perceive without mediation from deeper in the mind the properties of an object?

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    7 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    This is not a question for philosophy, but rather neuroscience.

    "extramental entities?" Where did you come up with that.

    Our senses are the result of millions of years of evolution, finely tuned to give us information about our "world"... Our environment. The primary purpose of this is to ensure survival.

    To spot predators or good things to eat or dangerous, contaminated water or foodstuffs.

    Since humans have evolved a large cerebral cortex, we also have considerable rational abilities...

    But sensory information still filters to our consciousness through pathways dictated by evolution.

    We do both things... When we see something, our minds put together a picture of it's shape, color, distance, and the like. Then, our memories engage and identify the object as a cat or a rock or a bottle of whisky.

    We make a value judgement as to the identity of the item based on sensory input.

    We may be wrong.... The "cat" may be a stuffed toy. The "rock" may be a bit of plastic foam, and the "bottle of whisky" may contain someone's used turpentine....

    Further investigation is necessary.

    None of these things are transmitting anything to our minds other than the things that impinge on our senses... Shape, color, texture, scent, distance.... Etc.

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    A complicated question. The mind filters sensory data by using observational intellegence. The way the information is filtered is controled by the mind. This is how you can tune in on a conversation in a room full of people, and how you recognise faces (the mind can play some interesting tricks). So what you get isnt what you see, and what you hear isnt what enters your ear. The mind can throw this system into reverse, so you can start imagining things that arent there. Schizophrenia is an example where things get out of control. Dreaming also gives a clue about how real things can seem which dont exist in our common reality. We do model objects in our mind, not always accurately. We use all sorts of bits and pieces, this is why we usually find it difficult to draw things accurately from memory. Instincts and phobias are powerful mind effects too affecting perception. I wouldnt entirely dismiss paranormal sciences either, fact IS stranger than fiction, we still have a lot to learn!

  • 7 years ago

    Of course we all receives data every second , other wise we are not exist.

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