Francis Crick: Week 4, Post 4

This assigned reading titled, "The Astonishing Hypothesis", by Francis Crick is
about the debate the goes on about whether or not consciousness is spiritual or
divine by nature or whether it is just an extremely complex set of neurons
caused by evolution. This way of thinking leads me to think Crick had a very
physical idea of the world. That in fact this world is mainly a physical
universe. I tend to side with Crick on this particular issue because I think
that there are reasons we have consciousness that have evolved over the years.
Crick believes that all that makes up the mind, your sense of personal identity
and free will, you joys and sorrows, are just an assembly of nerve cells and
their associated molecules. I, too, believe that it takes a much greater
investment in faith that "I" am more than just neurons firing.

For Instance, Crick explains where he thinks "free will" is located in the
brain. He goes on to tell his assumptions of how ones brain is concerned with
making plans for future actions, without necessarily carrying them out.
According to Crick, there is also a part where decisions are made. The brain
uses its experience and information to search through all of the fluff so to
speak to get to the best possible decision. This implies that the "free will"
lies in the anterior cingulated sulcus of the brain. I believe that this has
evolved in humans over the years and wasn't just simply a divine gift from god.