[Lewis Thomson (OP)]

Donald has written in to pose this hypothetical question,

"If an alien scientist, or a biologically ignorant one came across a human brain preserved in a jar, could he imagine anything close to the miraculous capabilities of that brain in life? I mean, humans know what the brain can do and have no sense how it gives us consciousness and sentience beyond a primitive synaptic understanding and a general map of cortical and subcortical specialization. How would a brilliant but naïve scientist begin to unravel this mystery? Or should we admit a priori that there is no solution and only flawed, untethered rationalizations and errors wait for such a scientist? Of course, this is hypothetical."

What do you think? Leave your comments below....

[alancalverd]

If said alien has a human-like brain, he might spot the similarities and conclude that it does something similar to his own, by an analogous mechanism. If he doesn't have a human-like brain, he probably wouldn't ask the question - it's just a lump of inanimate goop, apparently pickled for winter food, like the onions in the next jar.