ABSTRACT
E: We may open with a discussion on illusions because I believe that there is a great range of phenomena that are interpretable in terms of new ideas on the interaction of the self-conscious mind with the brain. It occurs to me that this is particularly well exhibited by the unity of experience in looking at one of the ambiguous figures. For example, I refer to the figure on p. 276 of Sherrington’s book, Man on His Nature, where you have a drawing that can be interpreted either as a staircase or as an overhanging cornice. (See note 1, below.) What we notice when we look at this is that it is quite a unitary experience. We hold it in one interpretation for the moment, that is the self-conscious mind assembling the whole modular performance into a meaningful picture. Then at a time when a slight movement occurs, it will be transformed to an overhanging cornice. The point of great interest is that you cannot get a partial interpretation. It is globally one or the other and in the switch there may be a slight white-out as the new interpretation comes about. I would suggest that this is an example of the self-conscious mind interacting with the brain and reading out from it. Admittedly there are extensive brain patterns for the experienced interpretation, but to my mind the interesting thing is the global nature of the interpretation. The self-conscious mind is doing its usual job of trying to extract a meaning from the total cerebral performance that relates to its present interests.
