HON 294, Fall 2010 | 3.0 ANALYZING ARGUMENTS | 3.1 Contention: "Brains do not need bodies."

3.1 Contention: "Brains do not need bodies."

Printer-Friendly Format 26-Aug-2010

In his lab at Duke University, Miguel Nicolelis teaches monkeys to play computer games, records their brain activities, and uses a computer to control the game. The monkeys discover they can play the game without using their hands. Simply by thinking the thought, "move the cursor to the right," the monkey can move the cursor to the right assisted by the computer. The animal no longer needs its body to control the mouse.

Take notes on this video. Identify a) the contention Nicolelis defends about the relationship between the brain and the body, and b) his reasons for it.

A transcript of the video is in assignments.