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Taxing troubles
OPINION LETTERS Self recognition From David Thomson, Bishop of Huntingdon At the end of your very interesting exploration of “the self” (23 February, p 32) you slip into the dichotomy of subjective illusion and objective reality, with the self in the first category. I suggest it is more profitable to remember that objects, from our bodies to quantum dualities, are also constructed by our consciousness via observation. Yet we remain confident these are “real”. So is it unreasonable to say the self is real too? Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK From Wolf Kirchmeir I think that what is wrong with the metaphors Jan Westerhoff gives for the self is that both a string of pearls and a rope are objects (p 34), but the self is a process. A better metaphor would be a fountain. The fountain’s shape exists as long as there is water flowing, and ceases when it stops. The self is the shape, not the water. The water represents the operations in the brain. This idea is not mine, but I cannot recall where I first encountered it. Blind River, Ontario, Canada
thinking need no longer be based purely on introspection, and can incorporate what we now know about the brain and how it shapes the mind. Now we can probe our experience of the self in interesting new ways.
A beta way
From S. J. Courtney Your series of articles opens with the assertion that everyone has a self. Try telling that to a Buddhist. Nowhere is there even a passing reference to the Buddhist idea of anatta – no self – nor of its associated analysis of the self into five “heaps” or “skandhas” – physical body, sensations, emotions, thinking and consciousness – all impermanent. Ford, Shropshire, UK The editor writes: n Science does appear to be falling into line with ideas such as these, as well as the arguments of historical thinkers such as the philosopher David Hume with his view of the self as a bundle of sensations. Fortunately, our
Enigma Number 1740
Sudoprime PETER CHAMBERLAIN The grid shows a cross-figure with two digits given as a start. The 11 answers are distinct primes and none has a leading zero. No digit appears more than once in any row, column or either of the two long diagonals. What are the numbers in the shaded regions?
5 9
WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Wednesday 10 April. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1740, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1734 Friendly factors: PRINTED is 9478162 The winner Jason Dickson of Bretforton, Worcestershire, UK
30 | NewScientist | 16 March 2013
From Colin Morrison In his account of the optical illusion known as the beta phenomenon (23 February, p 34), Jan Westerhoff rules out the hypothesis that our brain constructs the image we experience after it has received all the data. He concludes that “there is not enough time for a delay of sufficient length to explain the beta phenomenon” in this way. He bases this assessment on the timing of people’s “conscious responses” to visual stimuli. However, this seems to neglect the possibility that those supposedly conscious responses were in fact planned and initiated subconsciously while the image that the experimental subjects experienced was still being constructed. Maybe this would mean sufficient delay is possible for the hypothesis he dismisses. Cupar, Fife, UK From David Cheshire Don’t the processing errors cited by Westerhoff refer to the perception of self, not to the self “itself”? Our perception of the material world is just as shaky, but this doesn’t prove that it doesn’t exist. Far from self being a useful or necessary illusion, maybe we just haven’t cracked it yet. Verwood, Dorset, UK
Self deluding From Richard van Wyk In your self special (23 February, p 32) you wrote: “Some thinkers even go as far as claiming that there is no such thing as the self.” They think, therefore they are
not? I’m reluctant to heed the opinions of a nobody. Weyba Downs, Queensland, Australia From Max Potter Surely the greatest trick the mind has played is to convince people there is no such thing as the self. Witney, Oxfordshire, UK
Taxing troubles From Albert Lightfoot In his letter, Peter Ryan suggested tackling carbon emissions by making the consumer pay via a direct tax on goods (22/29 December 2012, p 41). However, like all logical and fair systems there is a downside. Presumably there will be a commission to determine the CAT (carbon added tax) and an appeals tribunal to correct “errors”. This will no doubt be a money-making machine for lawyers and affordable only by wealthy multinational players, who will secure lower CAT for offshore manufacture. Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Tribal peace From Alice Bayer, Survival International Fifteen researchers who have worked with the Yanomamö Indians for long periods during the past five decades wish to respond to Daniel L. Everett’s review of Napoleon Chagnon’s book Noble Savages (2 February, p 44). All consider the Yanomamö to be generally peaceable. As many traditional people do, they occasionally engage in intervillage conflicts, such as ritualised raids and duels. Yet the number of casualties is extremely low, compared with those resulting from the violence and disease inflicted on the Yanomamö by the gold panners and cattle ranchers who invade their lands.
thinking need no longer be based purely on introspection, and can incorporate what we now know about the brain and how it shapes the mind. Now we can probe our experience of the self in interesting new ways.
A beta way
From S. J. Courtney Your series of articles opens with the assertion that everyone has a self. Try telling that to a Buddhist. Nowhere is there even a passing reference to the Buddhist idea of anatta – no self – nor of its associated analysis of the self into five “heaps” or “skandhas” – physical body, sensations, emotions, thinking and consciousness – all impermanent. Ford, Shropshire, UK The editor writes: n Science does appear to be falling into line with ideas such as these, as well as the arguments of historical thinkers such as the philosopher David Hume with his view of the self as a bundle of sensations. Fortunately, our
Enigma Number 1740
Sudoprime PETER CHAMBERLAIN The grid shows a cross-figure with two digits given as a start. The 11 answers are distinct primes and none has a leading zero. No digit appears more than once in any row, column or either of the two long diagonals. What are the numbers in the shaded regions?
5 9
WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Wednesday 10 April. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1740, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1734 Friendly factors: PRINTED is 9478162 The winner Jason Dickson of Bretforton, Worcestershire, UK
30 | NewScientist | 16 March 2013
From Colin Morrison In his account of the optical illusion known as the beta phenomenon (23 February, p 34), Jan Westerhoff rules out the hypothesis that our brain constructs the image we experience after it has received all the data. He concludes that “there is not enough time for a delay of sufficient length to explain the beta phenomenon” in this way. He bases this assessment on the timing of people’s “conscious responses” to visual stimuli. However, this seems to neglect the possibility that those supposedly conscious responses were in fact planned and initiated subconsciously while the image that the experimental subjects experienced was still being constructed. Maybe this would mean sufficient delay is possible for the hypothesis he dismisses. Cupar, Fife, UK From David Cheshire Don’t the processing errors cited by Westerhoff refer to the perception of self, not to the self “itself”? Our perception of the material world is just as shaky, but this doesn’t prove that it doesn’t exist. Far from self being a useful or necessary illusion, maybe we just haven’t cracked it yet. Verwood, Dorset, UK
Self deluding From Richard van Wyk In your self special (23 February, p 32) you wrote: “Some thinkers even go as far as claiming that there is no such thing as the self.” They think, therefore they are
not? I’m reluctant to heed the opinions of a nobody. Weyba Downs, Queensland, Australia From Max Potter Surely the greatest trick the mind has played is to convince people there is no such thing as the self. Witney, Oxfordshire, UK
Taxing troubles From Albert Lightfoot In his letter, Peter Ryan suggested tackling carbon emissions by making the consumer pay via a direct tax on goods (22/29 December 2012, p 41). However, like all logical and fair systems there is a downside. Presumably there will be a commission to determine the CAT (carbon added tax) and an appeals tribunal to correct “errors”. This will no doubt be a money-making machine for lawyers and affordable only by wealthy multinational players, who will secure lower CAT for offshore manufacture. Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Tribal peace From Alice Bayer, Survival International Fifteen researchers who have worked with the Yanomamö Indians for long periods during the past five decades wish to respond to Daniel L. Everett’s review of Napoleon Chagnon’s book Noble Savages (2 February, p 44). All consider the Yanomamö to be generally peaceable. As many traditional people do, they occasionally engage in intervillage conflicts, such as ritualised raids and duels. Yet the number of casualties is extremely low, compared with those resulting from the violence and disease inflicted on the Yanomamö by the gold panners and cattle ranchers who invade their lands.