Where Am I?

Where Am I? is a beautiful and inspiring article made by Daniel Dennett, a Distinguished Arts and Sciences Professor, a Professor of Philosophy, and the Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He also published a lot of articles and books.

In the story, there are four main characters: Yorick, Hamlet, Hubert and Fortinbras. Yorick is the original brain of Dennett which was removed to avoid the high risks of the mission. Hamlet is the original body of Dennett which was left in the interior of the earth due to the malfunction of the system operating Yorick and Hamlet. Hubert is the copied brain or the twin of Yorick and Fortinbras is the copied body or the twin of Hamlet.

            At first, I had a bit of difficult and confusion with the story because of the names and the sequence of the story. I had a hard time of reflecting on it because I wasn’t able to literally experience it, yet. It is said that it is hard to explain or share something without experiencing it. It is also hard for the listeners to believe someone who preaches something he or she is not following or doing, or he or she hasn’t experienced it yet. But because of the use of my imagination, I was able to come up with this reflection.

I just reflected on some things. These are the inseparableness of the three main parts of a person. These are the brain, the body and the consciousness. The brain is the one that controls the body, without the brain, stimuli will not be responded without the central nervous system. The body is the one that show the movements of the person and it shows the movements instructed by the brain. The body also shows it’s responses to different stimuli. These three work together with each other.

For example, a basketball team is composed of a lot of members. These are the coach, the assistant coach, the team captain, the players, the towel boys and water boys.  Everyone acts with different functions but they are one. There must nobody lacking. Without the coach, the players will have a difficulty in their strategy. Without the players, no one will play. If the players are lacking, they will not be allowed to play. Without the team captain, who will lead the team playing on-court? Without the towel boys, how will the players wipe their sweat immediately to avoid getting sick? Without the water boys, there is a possibility that the players will be dehydrated. Therefore, a team lacking will not be able to function well. The coach is the brain, the rest is the body and their “consciousness” is to win the game.

With all of these factors, they will be one. The same as the person, with all its factors, everything will be in harmony.