X-Message-Number: 14697
From: 
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 14:02:25 EDT
Subject: standing waves & self circuit

Henri Kluytmans has asked me to expand on the notion of standing waves in the 
brain as the basis for the "self circuit," my posited seat of feeling and 
sentience.

First, reminders for those who have forgotten some elementary physics.

A simple type of standing wave in two dimensions is a string between two 
supports, plucked vertically and released. Depending on length, tension, 
elastic characteristics, pluck point, and initial displacement, after 
plucking you might see a blur the extremes of which look something like this 
(I'm not sure how well this will reproduce):
                         -      
              -                 -
       -                             -
   -                                       -
- -
   -                                        -
       -                             -
              -                 -
                        -

Or you might see several such blurs with nodes in between, instead of nodes 
only at the attached ends. The wave of lowest possible frequency f1 is called 
the fundamental or first harmonic. Those of higher frequencies, integral 
multuples of f,  i.e. nf, are called 2nd harmonic, 3rd harmonic, etc. They 
are also called overtones, but it is also possible, e.g in membranes such as 
drums, to have overtones or oscillation modes that are not harmonics.

The standing wave will have a definite frequency characteristic of each point 
of the string, but the amplitude of displacement will be zero at the nodes 
and maximum in between. Mathematically, the standing wave is equivalent to 
two waves traveling in opposite directions, superposed.

If the standing wave is to be maintained, energy must be supplied to 
compensate for damping. It is also possible to produce temporary 
perturbations or modulations of the wave by appropriate applications of force.

Now my suggestion is given only in crude, conceptual terms. The reality will 
doubtless be complicated, involving three dimensions and more than one 
medium. But it might conceivably help a little by suggesting to the 
experimentalists what to look for.

An important point is that the standing wave does not and cannot exist at a 
single point or a single moment. It binds space and time, and has no meaning 
unless you look at a time interval of the magnitude of the period and a space 
interval of the magnitude of the wave length. A computer simulation could 
imply or describe that, but could not capture or constitute it--somewhat as a 
reporter could convey evidence of an emotion, but not the emotion itself. In 
fact, wave equations written down on paper imply the behavior of the string, 
but cannot substitute for it.

So here is the nub of my suggestion. Feeling is rooted in standing waves in 
the brain. "You" (when not completely unconscious) are a particular standing 
wave, or set of such. The standing wave is your feeling of being. Modulations 
or perturbations of the standing wave(s) represent the CONTENT of feeling, or 
qualia, i.e. subjective experiences of something happening. The precise 
nature of these will of course depend on the brain's handling of sensory 
input, from the outside or from different regions of the brain. 

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
http://www.cryonics.org

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