What causes our mental states is neurons firing in our brain Thus we have no reason to believe any of our brain states, as all they are is a reaction to a physical event Thus we have no reason to believe that neurons firing in our brain cause brain states. Hmm...
There you are mistaken The entire universe causes neurons in our brain to fire Without the firing of these neurons we would not have brain states
How was I mistaken? We just said the exact same thing. On a side note... without brains and neurons there would still be mind.
The universe is a state of neurons firing in the brain Yeah, neurotransmitters were around long before human brains were. DMT in ayahuasca, serotonin in mushrooms and LSA, anandamide in cannabis, dopamine in cacao, etc etc...
That's wierd to think about. Hey, if most plants contain DMT, do we have an biochemical explanation of what they use it for? I'm going to be annoyed if I'm a veggie but still killing conciousness
Nope, there are very few studies about the endogenous use of certain neurotransmitters by organisms that don't have brains. From an excerpt of my paper regarding this: [FONT="]Consider the two molecules you see directly above. They are both neurotransmitters, which are chemicals in the brain that receive, transfer, and communicate information to various cortices of the brain by relaying chemical messages to receptor sites on the outside of nearby neurons. One is an extremely important neurotransmitter that makes up the largest and arguably the most important neurochemical relationship between brain and body, it is present in almost every cortex of the human brain and at all times, as well as in the central nervous system and the intestine, and its production can be stimulated whether one is eating chocolate or running a marathon. The role it plays in the brain is extremely diverse, everything from sleep regulation, motor functioning, visual processing, appetite, mood, pattern recognition, and many cognitive functions, can be attributed to it. The other molecule you see is almost identical, the only difference between the endogenous compound naturally produced in the brain and exogenous compound that is obtained through an external source, is the addition of a methyl group, which simply makes the compound more lipophilic so that it can cross the blood-brain barrier and affect receptors that are normally protected by fatty membranes. However, for being so similar in structure, their effects on the mind and body could hardly be more distinct: the molecule on the left is serotonin, and the molecule on the right is psilocin – the psychedelic ingredient found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. It is very apparent from a biological standpoint why the psilocin molecules fit in to serotonin receptors in the brain and begin to adopt its function; they are analogous compounds, and we know serotonin is a neurotransmitter, now the only question is… what sort of information is this molecule communicating to our brain?[/FONT]
That is absoultely fascinating. Your exerpt , and your post remind me of this image. I hope one day I get to study such interesting questions on my course.