Shigehiro Irie Quotes & Sayings

The neural basis for the self, as I see it, resides with the continuous reactivation of at least two sets of representations. One set concerns representations of key events in an individual's autobiography, on the basis of which a notion of identity can be reconstructed repeatedly, by partial activation in topologically organized sensory maps ...
In brief, the endless reactivation of updated images about our identity (a combination of memories of the past and of the planned future) constitutes a sizable part of the state of self as I understand it.
The second set of representations underlying the neural self consists of the primordial representations of an individual's body ... Of necessity, this encompasses background body states and emotional states. The collective representation of the body constitute the basis for a "concept" of self, much as a collection of representations of shape, size, color, texture, and taste can constitute the basis for the concept of orange. — Antonio R. Damasio

No reader can fail to agree that the number of books she needs to read far exceeds her capacities, but when the passion for rereading kicks in, the faint guilt that therefore attends the indulgence only serves to intensify its sweetness. — Patricia Meyer Spacks

My first car was a Holden Commodore station wagon. I can't remember much more about it than that - it was coffee colored, and I think it was four cylinders, so it was really quite weak, but very safe for a young man to be driving. — Antony Starr

Why has the medical profession not taken advantage of the help available from evolutionary biology, a well-developed branch of science with great potential for providing medical insights? One reason is surely the pervasive neglect of this branch of science at all educational levels. Religious and other sorts of opposition have minimized the impact in general education of Darwin's contributions to our understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. — Randolph M. Nesse

Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity. — Frederick Douglass

A life of value is not a series of great things well done; it is a series of small things consciously done. — Joan D. Chittister

I don't know if you should be this happy. I'm not sure how much math they taught you at that place you came from, but although two is twice as much as one, in our equation, two still equals fucked. — Donna Augustine

I went away, after trying once more to rouse up Bashan by renewed calls and
encouragement. In vain. He cared as little for my going as for my coming. He seemed weighed down by bitter loathing and despair. He had the air of saying: "Since you were capable of having me put in this cage, I expect nothing more from you." And, actually,
had he not enough ground to despair of reason and justice?
[ ... ]
How could I explain to him we were treating him with great distinction, in shutting him up like a jaguar, without sun, air, or exercise, and plaguing him every day with a
thermometer? — Thomas Mann

People are scared to empty their minds
fearing that they will be engulfed by the void.
What they don't realize is that
their own mind is the void. — Huangbo Xiyun

Secure the hearts of the nation's menopausal millions, Eileen knew, and no jury would dare convict her. — Rupert Smith