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Single Idea 7370

[filed under theme 16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 4. Denial of the Self ]

Full Idea

Who's in charge of the brain? First one coalition and then another, shifting in ways that are not chaotic thanks to good meta-habits that tend to entrain coherent, purposeful sequences rather than an interminable helter-skelter power grab.

Gist of Idea

The brain is controlled by shifting coalitions, guided by good purposeful habits

Source

Daniel C. Dennett (Consciousness Explained [1991], 8.1)

Book Ref

Dennett,Daniel C.: 'Consciousness Explained' [Penguin 1993], p.228


A Reaction

This is probably the best anti-ego account available. Dennett offers our sense of self as a fictional autobiography, but the sense of a single real controller is very powerful. If I jump at a noise, I feel that 'I' have lost control of myself.