Abstract 2016

 Title: Accepted Abstract 2016 Tucson Arizona

In response to your mission statement as an independent scholar, I propose the term ‘Dualism Physically Embodied’ which is my approach to human function. This will replace the outdated anachronistic non-sense as described in both the Oxford and Stanford Philosophers encyclopeadias, under the heading of dualism. Which should then be retitled as either traditional dualism, Cartesian dualism or believers dualism. As none of these serve a practical purpose in understanding consciousness or anything else, in fact they are a hindrance. What is the physical duality that we empirically know about ourselves and generally take for granted or choose to ignore? We have of course numerous left and right physical dual attributes, but my talk is of dualism physically embodied and is specifically about the parts that are conscious and the parts that are not conscious, together with all of the interactions that go on between them. During sleep we seem to loose consciousness and memory of time passing, but still have 24/7 non-conscious autonomic activity, keeping us alive, (hopefully). Also during sleep we subdue some of the somatic muscles and nerves we use when awake. This separability requires a type of physical switching. Animals that hibernate have a means of turning down their entire physical function to conserve energy. A mono system analogy of this would be like a light switch dimmer rheostat. However, with humans changing from awake to sleep requires at least a dual physical function of switching. An analogy for example, would be like a dual speaker balance control where one speaker (conscious somatic) is turned down, whilst the other speaker (non-conscious autonomic) is not or is enhanced. This is at least what is required in controlling the physical duality that we all have. I suspect it is this physical dualism and interaction that Descartes and so many others have struggled with. We know a lot more now than Descartes did, plus I do not have the religious pressure that he had nearly 400 years ago. It is the physical being of the person with all of the biological activity that it includes, that is its driver. There is no need to look for anything ethereal to drive it. Physically driven, the nervous spectrum functions and interacts with itself and the outside world via the connectome of the brain, satisfying the autonomic needs. Our body and brain work as an embodied unit. Conflict can arise due to our dual activity causing minor abuse to suicide. This internal activity can be portrayed or represented in works of art, design, invention and organisation. The embodied physical approach to dualism cannot be ignored, unless you are foolish.