Your will is what you want

Peter MolemanArticles, Conscious and subconsciousLeave a Comment

You think you have a will, but that is a misconception about your ego. The will as a tangible thing does not exist. You want something at a certain moment after you choose from different wishes. And that choice can change within a short time, perhaps even to the complete opposite.

Science in the time of Corona: Part 2

Peter MolemanArticlesLeave a Comment

Translated by Rumia Bose During the first lockdown in the Netherlands I wrote a blog about Science in the time of Corona. The emphasis lay on explaining the business of science, and that the establishing of facts took time that we did not have. At such moments you have to trust scientists and policy makers who are in charge.We now … Read More

Memories of early childhood?

Peter MolemanArticles, Brain development, MemoryLeave a Comment

Herinneren van een gebeurtenis verandert je geheugen | Peter Moleman

The memory develops after birth. A baby starts by registering how it should move. From around the age of three, a child can register events which form part of its life story, to be recalled in later life. But emotional events such as traumas are possibly registered much earlier as stray facts. These can elicit reactions, although you can’t retell them.

Science in the time of Corona

Peter MolemanArticles, The world within your headLeave a Comment

Verbazingwekkend en paradoxaal | Peter Moleman

The Corona virus spreads via coughing and sneezing. The way it spreads should be easy to investigate. But that does not turn out to be true. Scientists only know a fraction of what they want to know and have to deliver facts to the authorities in order for them to act swiftly. Our Dutch scientists are top of the bill. Therefore, I have confidence in them.

Letters and messages, neurons and thoughts

Peter MolemanArticles, Parts and the wholeLeave a Comment

Is a thought simply the sum total of the activity of all the neurons in the brain? No, just as a message is not simply the placement of a sequence of letters which follow the rules of grammar. How do those letters stand in relation to that message? How does the activity of neurons stand in relation to a thought? Was Descartes right, or are we our brain?

Let the sunshine in

Peter MolemanArticles, The world within your head3 Comments

Het zonlicht komt van boven | Peter Moleman

How would we manage, if we could not visualise three-dimensional objects from flat two-dimensional diagrams? An amazing feat our brain performs. What role does pre-determined programming play in this? That is related to how the sun shines on us.