Week 8 Nanotechnology + Art

Consciousness is a subjective idea that has been studied since ancient times and has transcended to be a controversial science with diverse opinions in its origin and function. Aristotle was one of the first to refer to it as “the seat of the thought and the heart of humans, a simple tool to cool down our blood and keeps us at calm.” With time, consciousness captured the attention of different scientists in order to understand it and the variety of functions inside the brain. This view on consciousness allowed later scientist to relate consciousness with subjects more humanistic like art and psychology.

In the 19th century, physician Franz Joseph Gall believed that the “human brain was physically developed according to its use” with this in mind the practice of phrenology, which is the determination of individuals by the feeling bumps on the head of the subject. This is one of the ideas that captivated me due to my necessity of defining people and what they are in a more subjective approach. Following the rules of Phrenology, the brain consist in 27 separate “organs” that are in charge of regulate human faculties, which in my personal view believing that the brain was not one but many organs in charge of diverse  was hard to believe at first but when reading the article in Neuroculture I understood that the brain is seen as a being and not part of the body made more sense. The 27 different organs composing this “being” that rules and determines what we are and what capacities we have makes me wonder if all that we are is a brain composed of many other components(extremities, ligaments, flesh and bone) as a way to display those qualities inquisition in the 27 organs that compose the brain.