Our sense organs 45

all the information from our surroundings relevant
to that situation.
Up to now we have ascribed all mental properties
to the brain’s physical make-up alone. But in the
next chapter it will be shown that such a view is
not really adequate to encompass all its functions.
In spite of many research findings, the brain
is still mostly like a vast blank “unknown territory“
on our map of scientific knowledge.
Some quotations by scientists researching the
human brain:
“The more precisely neuro-scientists try to
describe the functioning of our brain, the clearer
it becomes that all their measurements and models
do not encompass the central aspect of consciousness,
namely the subjective appreciation of
qualities like colour and scent, a moment of
reflection, or an emotion.”
(David J Chalmers: The puzzle of conscious perception,
Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Feb 1996,
page 40)
“At the present stage, with a reasonable start in
understanding the structure and workings of individual
cells, neurobiologists are in the position of
a man who knows something about the physics of
resistors, condensators and transistors and who
looks inside a television set. He cannot begin to
understand how the machine works as a whole
until he learns how the elements are wired together
and until he has at least some idea of the
purpose of the machine, of its subassemblies and
of their interactions. In brain research the first step
beyond the individual neuron and its workings is
to learn how the larger subunits of the brain are
interconnected and how each unit is built up.”
(David H Hubel: The Brain. Scientific American,
Vol. 241, No. 3, Sept. 1979, p. 44)
“After thousands of scientists have studied the
brain for centuries, the only adequate way to
describe it is as a miracle.”
(Robert Ornstein / Richard F. Thompson:
Our brain – a living labyrinth. Houghton Miffin
Company, Boston, 1984)
89