Brain Doctors.

[joe-90]

It was on TV last night and the guys do fantastic work.

One comment intrigued me.

The brain doc said that despite 200 years of dissecting brains, we still know very little about how they actually work.

Then he went on to say that we may never know how they work.

He then said that we just may not have the capacity to understand how they work.

So how can something evolve that is so complex that humans will never know how they work?

Intelligent Design anyone?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It was on TV last night and the guys do fantastic work.

It's been on a few weeks now, amazing what they do. There is also something along the same lines on C5.
But the BBC one is much better (in my opinion) even though they starved a wee one for 6 hours, then sent the poor thing home without surgery, due to no bed being available.

 

[cajar]

Using a human brain to understand how a human brain works, that's gotta be self limiting right there. I dont see the argument for intelligent design, I do however see a very strong argument for evolution of a brain because it improves an animals survival and every little improvement helps, from knowing which berries not to eat, to knowing how to trap animals, to being able to fit in with your tribe social group, a brain is the gateway to survival and passing on the genes.

 

[joinerjohn]

Here's a link to an article on the BBC website about the connections within the brain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21487016

 

[Norcon]

So how can something evolve that is so complex that humans will never know how they work?

Because it was created by God.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

So how can something evolve that is so complex that humans will never know how they work?

I often ask a similar question about the missus!

 

[JBR]

I can understand how the brain is a collection of millions of inter-connected nerve cells. I can understand how electrical signals are passed between these cells. I can understand how nerve synapses pass chemical signals.

However, these are 'mechanical' processes and I am at a loss to explain how these things create and store memories and provide understanding and reasoning.

I don't think God made brains, though!

 

[joinerjohn]

JBR, they aren't mechanical processes, the brain works on chemical processes.

 

[Sombrero]

I can understand how the brain is a collection of millions of inter-connected nerve cells. I can understand how electrical signals are passed between these cells. I can understand how nerve synapses pass chemical signals.

However, these are 'mechanical' processes and I am at a loss to explain how these things create and store memories and provide understanding and reasoning.

I don't think God made brains, though!

my memory is terrible !
Bulbous pant cycle...?

 

[JBR]

JBR, they aren't mechanical processes, the brain works on chemical processes.

I know. Electro-chemical.

That's why I put 'mechanical' in inverted commas, to indicate that they were not some strange supernatural phenomena.

 

[chapeau]

Saying nobody will ever know how the brain works is just the surgeon adding to the mystique of being a 'brain surgeon'. In fact that's probably why brain surgeons are held in such awe by the general public. It is believed that nobody understands how the brain works, and you have to be somewhat special to cut a hole in the skull and start poking around in there.

I've never understood it myself, brain surgery is mostly hacking stuff out and not knowing how much damage you have caused until after the patient wakes up. There is no reconstructive surgery as such, they will go in and just take things out and hope they have got enough of it.

The major advances in this field are in imaging, and those were developed by scientists and engineers. These new imaging techniques are improving our understanding of how the brain works and one day it will be cracked.

If you want to know who the clever clogs are then you need to find a neurologist. A good neurologist can take a history then examine you, and identify to the nearest cm where the problem lies in the brain. They will then order a scan and there will be a mark exactly there. Then they will say there's nowt they can do about it. Rarely will they refer their patient to the brain surgeon as everybody knows it will be a waste of time and money.

 

[Hysteresis]

Because it was created by God.

Stupid Comment - always trumped by the inevitable 'Who Created God then'.
or 'God Created Cancer also' and many many more.
If all of this was created by a God , he must be a very sadistic uncaring character, certainly not one I want anything to do with.

 

[RonnyRaygun]

Intelligent Design anyone?

Erm, no

We have no idea where technology will take us in the future so we can't say that we will *never* understand something. Knowledge of the brain is still in its infancy and who knows where we will be in fifty, one hundred, five hundred years time?

But even if it does turn out to be that we never understand the workings of the brain, this doesn't, by some freak of nature, lead to a higher being. It might however, mean that evolution is incredibly complex.
Don't forget, assuming we believe evolution to be true, it has had 2.5 billion years to go from single cell organisms to the human brain, the most complex known thing in the universe.

Don't forget evolution has gone down countless dead ends to get to where we are today. Evolution isn't perfect, in fact it is incredibly flawed, and for every mutation which is beneficial, there might be fifty which are detrimental. Luckily natural selection will mean that these flaws are not passed on.

It's a futile argument anyway. Scientific studies and facts will never make religious fundamentalists see sense.

 

[pred]

Because it was created by God.

Stupid Comment - always trumped by the inevitable 'Who Created God then'.
or 'God Created Cancer also' and many many more.
If all of this was created by a God , he must be a very sadistic uncaring character, certainly not one I want anything to do with.

And what about his ego, what sort of father figure wants his children to pray to him on a daily basis and build special houses where everybody can worship him every week??

 

[Norcon]

Because it was created by God.

Stupid Comment - always trumped by the inevitable 'Who Created God then'.
or 'God Created Cancer also' and many many more.
If all of this was created by a God , he must be a very sadistic uncaring character, certainly not one I want anything to do with.

Aah that ole chesnut. Who created God?
This question is a major objection that atheists like yourself put forward to justify your disbelief. You've got a degree in science so that qualifies you to question divine wisdom.

We know sufficient about the Creator from His creation to be “without excuse”. Romans 1:18–22 says,

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools … ”

"I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come--the Almighty One."

Those who reject the Creator not only have to believe that matter came into being without any cause; they also have to believe that life itself popped into existence without an adequate cause.

As we approach the end of Gods spiritual phase of work, a physical phase of destruction has begun in the world marked by the seven thunders. God does not owe favour or help to anyone.
Everyone on earth will experience suffering through the destructive times that are just ahead.