At 12:20 AM 10/19/98 -0400, John K Clark wrote:
>He also did some work on humans. He approached several people about to
>undergo brain surgery for medical reasons, and asked them if he could implant
>some electrodes in their brain at the same time. Some agreed. In one case,
>when the electrode was fired the man would always turn his head to the left.
>The interesting thing was that the man said he felt free, he couldn't
even tell
>when the electrode was turned on. The patient was always able to come up
>with good reasons for turning to the left. He would say "I'm looking for
my slippers"
>or "I'm restless" or "I heard a noise" or "I was looking under the bed".
This man
>was intelligent and rational, he never said I'm looking for Martians, and
felt
>perfectly free. In all cases he thought turning his head was his own idea,
>he felt free because he was, he was doing what he wanted to do.
The man's experience also indicates that subtle thoughts can be induced that serve to justify the actions the stimulus effects. The head is not just turned, but is so for a reason expressed as a set of thoughts and/or feelings.
"He who pursues learning will increase every day; he who pursues Tao will decrease every day." Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)