Zombie Neurophysiology

Ever since I started reading Dennett, I've developed a soft spot for Bertrand Russell's Zombie Metaphor.

As far as I've read, V.S. Ramachandran in the man when it comes to understanding neurophysiology. Pretty much every journal article I've read in the subject of neuroscience cites some part of his research, which is pretty cool, and his work on synesthesia as a root of human creativity and a device enabling metaphor has always been fascinating to me.

It's my understanding, though, that as much as philosophers try and answer questions about qualia, there isn't going to be a conclusive answer produced by philosophers. All of the answers on the subject will inevitably come from the neuroscientists with a very concrete understanding of brain functions.

That's why, when I see a lecture that addresses the Zombic problem in terms of something concrete, like mirror neurons, I'm curious what the lecturer has to say (so I hope that this lecture will be available for public consumption at some point).

What's unfortunate is that while we understand some of the functions that mirror neurons serve (Dr. Ramachandran has theorized that they have an impact on speech and imitative behavior), we don't really have a well developed understanding of how they play into human development.

There's sufficient evidence that these neurons exist, and a handful of studies have been conducted to demonstrate their presence in the brain. There are some theoretical philosophical implications that mirror neurons help in developing a sense of empathy, but, again, it's very difficult for philosophers to come up with answers to questions that can really only be investigated by neuroscientists.

Anyway, I think that neuroscience is one of the next big steps for science, and a complete understanding of the way that the mind functions may come together in my generation, and I'm very curious to see how it pans out.