Attempting to understand the mind in isolation from that outside world is akin to trying to understand the movements of a dancer without any knowledge of the music that is being danced to or trying to understand emotions simply by looking at the movement of the facial muscles involved in smiling or frowning. "The mind is an ecological phenomenon," Noe says. "We are in the world and of it, not trapped in some cavern of consciousness."

Noe says that the neurobiologists don't do justice to the complexity of what they are studying because they look at one small, reduced part of the puzzle. He is following the example of his colleague professor Dreyfus, who often quotes the German philosopher Heidegger about how you can't really understand what a hammer is unless you also understand nails, wood and the human need for shelter.

¶ 11:05 AM