Inuyasha wrote:
ryan93 wrote:
Movement doesn't imply consciousness, or even neurological sophistication. Neuroembryologists have to go by the benchmark of "it's anatomy doesn't look human, it's brainwaves certainly don't, so it's not conscious". It's the only way to approach the problem of other minds.
However there is nothing in the womb for the infant to study, so we're expecting the child to interact with a nonexistant object.
I'm not expecting anything more than a developed brain, or a semblance of a human thought. A fetus in the first trimester shows none of these, the thing is a vegetable.
"But when does the magical journey of consciousness begin? Consciousness requires a sophisticated network of highly interconnected components, nerve cells. Its physical substrate, the thalamo-cortical complex that provides consciousness with its highly elaborate content, begins to be in place between the 24th and 28th week of gestation. Roughly two months later synchrony of the electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythm across both cortical hemispheres signals the onset of global neuronal integration. Thus, many of the circuit elements necessary for consciousness are in place by the third trimester. By this time, preterm infants can survive outside the womb under proper medical care."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... ness-arise
_________________
The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists - Erwin Schrodinger
Member of the WP Strident Atheists