Dr. Bruce Greyson:意识是由大脑产生的吗?




演讲者:

Dr. Bruce Greyson,
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia.

美国维珍尼亚大学心理学和神经行为科学教授




Dr. Bruce Greyson教授的演讲内容要点:


1. It seems that brain can think and feel, but brain cell can't.

看来我们相信大脑能思考能感受,但脑细胞却不能。



2. As Chris said yesterday, Scientist get around this problem by saying consciousness is an emergence properties of brain, a property done when there is emerging large number of masses of brain cells get together. What does that mean, we have no idea what that mean. Saying something as an emergence property, is a way of saying it is a mystery that we can't explain.



昨天Chris告诉我们,科学家把这个难题圆说谓“意识是脑的突变性质”,“当脑有足够的质量聚合时候,这种特性就变现出来。”
这是什么意思?我们无法理解。把事物说成“突变性质”就是“无法解释的谜团”的另类说法。

3. The materialistic understanding of the world, fails to deal with how an electrical impulse or chemical triggers in the brain can produce thoughts or feelings, or anything that the mind does. And yet despite having no idea about how it could work? Most neuroscientist still continue to maintain this 19th century materialistic view, that the brain in some miraculous way we don't understand produces consciousness. And they discount or ignore the evidence that consciousness in extreme circumstances can functions very well, without a brain.

从唯物的世界观委实难以理解怎样由一股电脉冲或化学触发就可以产生思想、感受和其他意识东西来。
虽然对此毫无头绪,但大部分神经科学家们继续坚持这个十九世纪的唯物观,仍认为大脑以一种尚未知道的奇妙途径产生意识来。他们同时亦摒弃或忽视“意识在极端情况下,缺乏大脑仍能运作良好”的证据。

4. This idea that the mind and the brain are separate things was what most the people believe until a couple of hundreds year ago. But in the 19th century, at least in the west, beginning of the Darwinian, physiological psychologist started to exploring the notion that the physical brain might be the source of all our thoughts and the emotion in due of all the consciousness. To the past century, psychologies has been moving towards the hard core materialism that characterise the 19th century physics, a physics based on classical Newtonian mechanics. They have been attempting to show the consciousness is nothing more than the working of a physical brain.


直到两百年前,“意识和大脑是两个独立的东西”,这个想法一直为大多数人所相信。但是到了十九世纪,至少在西方,达尔文论学家、生理心理学家才开始探索“身体的大脑可能是思想、情感、乃至一切意识的泉源”这个概念。在上一世纪,心理学家逐渐倾向十九世纪物理学特色的中坚唯物观,一个由牛顿力学主导的物理学。他们一直尝试着证明,意识只不过是大脑物理性的运作而已。

5. Physicist faced with overwhelming evidence were already moving away from materialistic view of universe to quantum physics, that could not be formulated without the reference of consciousness, playing as the independent role in the universe.


由于压倒性的证据涌现,物理学家正从宇宙唯物观转到量子物理学观去了。若没有以意识为宇宙的独立角色作参考,这量子物理学就不能成立了。

6. The price physicist pay in developing quantum physics was to acknowledge the consciousness as the fundamental aspect of existence, independent of matter. So to the question of the mind-brain relationship.


发展量子物理学的代价就是承认意识是一种有别于物质的基本存在体,这就像“意识和大脑的关系问题”一样。

7. According to Buddhist teaching, consciousness can sustain itself without a brain, or even without any physical form. 19th century reductionist science view the consciousness as an emergence property that evolves with complex brain. But just as quantum physicist now view consciousness as irreducible component in the universe. So to scientific research in the past century has explored human experiences that suggested consciousness can function without a brain.


根据佛教的理论,意识可以自我支持,无需倚靠大脑,甚至任何物体。十九世纪还原论科学视“意识”为是由复杂大脑进化成的“突变性质”。但就像现今量子物理学家视“意识”为不可还原的宇宙部件,上世纪的科研在人类经历探索后, 提出了“意识可以没有大脑而运作”的建议。


8. Another challenging phenomena is the presence of normal or even higher intelligence in people who has little brain tissue. There are again rare but surprising cases of people who seems to function normally in life with normal intelligence, and normal social function, despite having virtually no brain at all. In one case published in 2007, a high school honour student who has been accepted by the Smith College, underwent surgery after she was injured and not in conscious in automobile accident. An x-ray on her head just before surgery, reveals that she has no cerebral cortex at all. She just has the brain stem in her skull. And when the surgeon opens up her skull and operating, that is exactly what he found, just the brain stem, with no cerebral cortex. Our best understanding of a normal brain is that the brain stem relays the motors and sensory signals to the cerebrum and spinal cord, and integrates heart function, breathing ... and other animal functions. But the brain stem has no connection to perform higher cognitive functions, like thinking, perceiving, making decision, and so on. That can only happens in the cerebral cortex which this young girl did not has. So this young college young honour student, according to our best understanding of brain, should have be completely unable to formulate any thoughts of any kind, left alone functioning at a high intellectual level.


另一种挑战现象发生在正常甚至高等智慧但只具有极少脑组织的人身上。这也是罕有,单奇怪的是有些人实质上大脑已全缺,却仍能正常地生活、有正常的智慧及正常的社交。在2007年刊登了一宗事例:一个已被史密夫学院取录了的高中优异生在一宗车祸中被撞昏迷而接受外科手术。
手术前的X光片显示,她根本没有大脑皮层。她的颅内只有脑干。当外科医生打开她的头颅做手术时,发现真的如此。只有脑干,没有大脑皮层。根据我们对正常大脑最佳的理解,脑干是负责联系着运动及官感讯号到小脑及脊髓,以及整合心脏功能、呼吸、分别左右方向及其他动物功能。但脑干没有关系到较高等认识力功能的运作如思想、感受、做决定等等。 这些功能只会在这年轻女子所缺的大脑皮层出现。按照我们对大脑最佳的认识,这位准学院高中优异生应该不可以有任何形式的思想出现,更不用说可以达到如此高的智慧水平了。

9. 30 years ago, Lorber published an article in a prestige journal of science, entitle "Is your brain really necessary?" The brain on the left of the slide is a normal brain, the grey area is the cerebral cortex, the part of brain that think. And the lack area in the very center is cerebral spinal fluid in the center cabin. On the right is the brain of an adult with very severe hydrocephalus. The vast majority of his head is filled with cerebral spinal fluid, with only a very thin ridge of brain tissue pressed against the skull. Hardly enough to allow this person to live, left alone function normally according to the modern medical neuro science. However this particular brain scan of the person with hydrocephalus was actually from a graduate student in mathematics Cambridge University, with the IQ of 126.




三十年前,Lorber在一份很有威望的期刊——自然科学,发表了一篇文章题目是《大脑真是必要吗?》。幻灯片的左面是一正常脑的扫描,灰色的地方就是大脑皮层,负责思想的脑部分。中央黑色的地方就是在脑的空腔内的脑脊液。右边是患上严重脑水肿的成人的脑扫描。他的头绝大部分都充满了脑脊液。只有薄薄的一层脑组织压在颅壁上。以现今神经科医学的理论,这人根本就难以生存,更遑论正常地生活了。然而这特别的严重脑水肿的脑扫描是来自剑桥大学数学系的研究生。 他的智商达126。

10. Overwhelming majority (82%)of near death experiencer reports that they have stronger belief that they survive death of body. Just as many (86%) reports that there no longer any fear of death. About Half (53%) reported that they have completely lost interest in material possession. And many (37%) report that they no longer have any interest in personal prestige or status or competition.

绝大多数 (82%)瀕死经历者汇报他们更相信有死后的生命。同样多(86%)的人汇报他们不再害怕死亡。近一半 (53%)的人汇报他们完全失去了物质占有欲。又很多 (37%)汇报他们对各人声誉、地位及竞争不再有兴趣。

11. Some of you may be thinking, some of these people are now following the Buddha. They show more compassion, they tend to try to help others, they are less attached to material possession and status, but as the holiness pointed out yesterday, these values are not uniquely Buddhist. These are universal values, almost all spiritual traditions teaches compassions, and the transient of worldly rewards. These near death experiencers are not becoming more Buddhist, they are becoming more spiritual.

现在你们可能有人人为这些人现已专修佛法。他们显得更慈悲、乐于助人及减少了对名利及地位的执着。但尊者昨天指出,
这些人生观不是佛教所独有。这些是普世价值观。几乎所有传统灵修都弘扬慈悲及世间果报的短暂。瀕死经历者没有单为此更信佛法,只是变得更重灵性。


12. I want to highlight three particular features of near death experience, that particularly suggest that consciousness is not produced by the brain. These 3 features of near death experiences are (1) Clear thinking perception and memory while the brain is incapacitated. (2) Accurate perception from a visual perspective outside the physical body, and (3) Encountered with the deceased persons who conveyed accurate information that no one else could have known, including in some cases, encountered with the deceased person who was not known at the time who has died, or not known by the experiencer at all. Perhaps the most important and the most common is the first.

我想突出三种濒死经历的特色,它们尤其暗示着“大脑没有产生意识”。这三种特色就是:(1)当大脑丧失能力时,思想、感知及记忆清晰。(2)在身体外从视觉上有准确的感知。(3)遇到已亡的人告知无人能知但准确的讯息。包括和一些亡者的接触,但当时并不知对象已亡,又或先前不认识的亡者。可能第一种特色最为重要,全因它是最普遍。

13. In 1982, an American cardiologist Michal Sabom published a study in which he asked the near death experiencers who have reported leaving their body during CPR to describe in detail what they have seem. He also asked a matched group of seasoned cardiac patients to imagine watching their resuscitation and tried to describe it from a third person perspective. 80% of matched group who did not have near death experiences make major errors in their descriptions. None of the near death experiencers made any errors.

在1982年美国心脏专科医生Michael Sabom在美国心刊登了一分研究报告。在此他要求濒死经历者,在心肺复甦过程种有“身处体外”经历的汇报他们看到的事物。他要求一个相配的心脏病常发者群体,从一个第三者的视野中想象他们在复甦及尝试记录。
80%的心脏病者在相配群体(没有濒死经历的)记录中犯上主要的错误。濒死经历者却无一犯下任何错误。

14. A few years ago, the Welsh intensive care nurse Penny Sartori published a five year study, in which she replicated the same findings. She found that all the near death experiencers who claimed to left their bodies, describes accurate resuscitation scenario. Who has all the cardiac arrest survivors who does not have near death experiences gave incorrect description of the equipment and the procedures.

几年前微尔士医疗所护士Penny Sartori刊登了一个五年研究报告有关复制Sabom的发现。
她发现所有声称有“离体”的濒死经历者都准确地描述复甦中的情景。反之,所有心脏病发者但没有濒死经历的所报告手术过程及仪器都是错误。

15. An American paediatrician Dr. K.M. Dale treated a nine years boy with meningitis who had a near death for 36 hours before his fever finally broke. During those 36 hours, he was surrounded by his anxious parents, who never left his hospital bed. When his fever finally broke, as soon as he opened his eyes, the boy described having gone to  heaven where he saw several deceased relatives. And then he added he also seen his sister Theresa who told him that he has to go back to his body, now the boy's father got very upset when he heard it, because his daughter was in college 1500 km away in another state and was perfectly healthy. But the boy insisted that Theresa has sent him back and told him that she has to stay there. His father then left the hospital promising his wife that he will call the daughter as soon as he got home. But when he tried to telephone Theresa, he learnt that the college officer has been trying unsuccessfully all night to reach the family, to tell them tragically that Theresa has been killed around mid-night in an automobile accident.

美国一个儿科医生Dr. K.M. Dale救治过一个患脑膜炎的九岁男孩。在这36小时中,他焦急的父母一直守在他身边,没有离开过。这男孩在发烧终于退去及张开眼睛后,马上描述到了天堂及看到几位已亡的亲人。他跟着说,他同时见到他姐姐杜丽莎叫他返回他的身体。男孩的父亲听后心情烦躁,因为他的女儿正在1500公里外的另一个州念大学,健康良好。但男孩坚持说是特丽莎送他回来,同时她说她必须留下。
他父亲向妻子保证回家后马上致电女儿,就离开了医院。但当他试图致电女儿时,他得知校方整晚正想联络家属。告知杜丽莎于昨晚深夜在一宗汽车意外中身亡的噩耗。

16. In University of Virginia, we have studied more than 2416 cases of the very young children who spontaneously started talking about their past life. About half of these cases lived in Asia....They usually began to speak about these past life memory between age of 2 and 5 years, and in most cases, those memory tends to fade between the age of 6 to 9 years... The average time that passed between the death and the past life and the birth of the presence life is twelve years.


在维珍尼亚大学,我们研究了超过2416起个案,有关一些能自发讲述前生的很年幼的孩童。这些孩童有近半住在亚洲...他们通常在两岁到五岁时就开始讲述前世的回忆,而在大部分案例中,这些回忆在六岁到九岁时便开始淡忘...从死后到转世相隔的时间平均为12年。


17. There is tremendous resistance among the western scientist to the idea that consciousness and brain are separate because most of the western science is built on this materialistic model. The materialistic of looking at things has produced many good things to our society. The problem is that many scientist confused the materialistic philosophy with the scientific method, and all the great things that we enjoyed from modern technology is the result of scientific methods, not necessary of materialistic philosophy. But they have been linked so tightly together in the past several hundreds of years, that is hard for scientist to think of a science without materialism.


西方科学佳对“意识和大脑是独立体”这想法有庞大的抗拒,因为大部分西方科学家是建筑在唯物论的范式。这唯物论的看法带给我们社会很多好处。但问题是,很多科学家把“唯物主义”和“科学主义”混淆了。所有由现代科技带给我们的好东西源自的是“科学方法”。而不一定是“唯物主义”。但这两者在过去数百年来 已紧密相连,致令科学家难以在“唯物论”以外想象“科学”。

18. And there is change in the last century among modern theoretical physicist. They studied things that can't be seem, or felt or measured directly. Particles that are so small and last only a short period of time that they cannot be seen or cannot be measured. So what they do is they shoot these particles through the what is called the bubble chamber, is a pack of bottled liquids. As the particle goes through the liquids, it leaves a trail of bubbles, so you measures the effects of the particles, but you can't measure the particle. You assume that there is a particle there produces the bubbles. And from the trail of bubbles you can learnt a lot about these particles that can't be seem.

在上世纪,情况在理论物理学家中开始有变。
他们研究的东西,不能直接观看、感触或量度。像粒子既微小又短命,因而不能直接观看或量度。他们所做的是把子射入所谓“气泡室内”,是一箱液体。当粒子射入液体内,就留下气泡痕迹。你只能量度粒子的反应,但不能量度粒子本身。你假设有粒子产生气泡。由气泡痕迹你可以大量研究你见不到的粒子。

19. In the same way, the thing that we talk about, consciousness cannot be seem, but it does leave effects. Consciousness leave the trail of bubbles that we can follow, and through the effects, we can make inferences about  consciousness.

同样地,
我们所讲的“意识”也是见不到的,但它真能留下反应。意识真能影响身体,留下隐喻的“气泡痕迹”让我们跟进。并从这些反应中,我们可以对意识做出推论

评论