• James Riley
    2.9k
    However, human experiments have been/are also conducted albeit in an extremely limited manner and some of the data I presented here are from such.TheMadFool

    Maybe, but you asked:

    Do you have a relevant point to make or are you just passing random comments?TheMadFool

    And I responded, talking only about humans in their most basic animal blood/brain/organ simplicity. I know I'm not the most "coherent" when my brain is deprived of some blood.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    It appears that there's a lot we don't know...a lot. Diametrically opposite hypotheses can be generated to explain a simple, observable, fact viz. loss of consciousness brought on by severe injury.

    Is it that the prefrontal cortex (consciousness) is of least importance, the most nonessential organ, and is immediately shut down when the body suffers critical damage? Compare this to how we turn off nonessential appliances when faced with power shortages.

    Is it that the prefrontal cortex (consciousness) is of the greatest importance, the most essential organ, and is shut down to protect it from further damage. This analogous to disconnecting your PC from the worldwide web in the event of a raging computer virus outbreak.

    :chin:
  • Book273
    768
    Your version of shock is amusing, astoundingly inaccurate, but entertaining. The digestion system will slow to crawl, the peripheral circulatory system will shutdown next, hence cold fingers and hands, as the body shunts blood to the more critical systems in the core (central nervous system, heart, lungs etc). Then the kidneys will shutdown, liver, etc. So pretty much exactly the opposite of what you said. Thanks for coming out.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    Your version of shock is amusing, astoundingly inaccurate, but entertaining. The digestion system will slow to crawl, the peripheral circulatory system will shutdown next, hence cold fingers and hands, as the body shunts blood to the more critical systems in the core (central nervous system, heart, lungs etc). Then the kidneys will shutdown, liver, etc. So pretty much exactly the opposite of what you said. Thanks for coming out.Book273

    Credentials, if any? I happen to know something about physiology - took a course back in college quite a long time ago. Something, they say, is better than nothing :rofl: Plus, did you read the NCBI link I provided?
  • Possibility
    2.8k
    Your version of shock is amusing, astoundingly inaccurate, but entertaining. The digestion system will slow to crawl, the peripheral circulatory system will shutdown next, hence cold fingers and hands, as the body shunts blood to the more critical systems in the core (central nervous system, heart, lungs etc). Then the kidneys will shutdown, liver, etc. So pretty much exactly the opposite of what you said. Thanks for coming out.Book273

    :up:

    Credentials, if any? I happen to know something about physiology - took a course back in college quite a long time ago. Something, they say, is better than nothing :rofl: Plus, did you read the NCBI link I provided?TheMadFool

    Credentials aren’t necessary - this is a commonly held understanding of how stress, injury, shock and the eventual process of dying affects the body, generally speaking. But I maintain that it varies according to conceptual structures. Sure, some people will pass out long before any of these other system shutdown processes can be observed or measured, but not before they are enacted. Others will continue to appear lucid and be able to communicate important information as needed - they have not lost consciousness - yet they retain no conscious memory of the event.

    Your NCBI link throws a blanket conclusion over blood-flow redistribution under shock aiming to protect ‘survival functions’ rather than ‘higher brain function’... based on studies of sheep. This is vastly inconclusive in relation to a self-conscious subject with highly developed conceptual, language and societal structures. There is no reason at all to assume the same distribution pattern would be employed.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    Credentials aren’t necessaryPossibility

    I suppose you're right. Are you or any of your family suffering from any ailments? I could prescribe medication or even, if I feel like it, perform surgery.
  • Book273
    768
    you could do either. I suspect the results will be less than ideal, based on your understanding of physiology, but hey, don't let that stop you. Have fun with it eh.

    All the same, I will carry on treating my patients based on my understanding of medicine, health, and physiological response to stress as I understand it and according to my training, not as you have presented it.
  • Possibility
    2.8k
    Credentials aren’t necessary
    — Possibility

    I suppose you're right. Are you or any of your family suffering from any ailments? I could prescribe medication or even, if I feel like it, perform surgery.
    TheMadFool

    There’s no need to be facetious - credentials aren’t necessary to recognise the flaws in your understanding here. And if I need someone to treat my family, I won’t come to a philosophy forum for expertise, that’s for sure.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    There’s no need to be facetiousPossibility

    If it is facetious, why avoid it?
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    Addendum: It appears that, from a certain perspective, the problem - is the brain/prefrontal cortex/consciousness the most or the least important - is unsolvable.

    Assume, for the sake of argument, that the blood under severe stress contains both nutrients and toxins. If so, the diversion of blood away from the brain/prefrontal cortex/consciousness can be explained in two diametrically opposite ways.

    Explanation 1. The reason for shunting blood away from the brain/prefrontal cortex/consciousness is to ensure the falling supply of nutrients reach more vital organs/processes. Conclusion: the brain/prefrontal cortex/consciousness is the least important organ/process.

    Explanation 2. Blood circulation to the brain/prefrontal cortex/consciousness is reduced to prevent toxins from damaging the organ/process. Conclusion: the brain/prefrontal cortex/consciousness is the most important organ/process.

    Since the only medium for nutrients is the blood and necessarily that if there are toxins, they will be blood-borne, we can't find out whether the brain/prefrontal cortex/consciousness is the least important or the most important organ/process. That both nutrients and toxins use the same medium (blood) makes that impossible.

    Paradox?
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