The Silicon Neuron

Nathan Young
13 min readAug 16, 2020

INTRODUCTION

Consciousness is only made possible by virtue of the brain, and the brain is nothing more than a collection of complex cells called neurons. Like everything else that exists in our world, neurons abide by the same cause-and-effect processes that govern the universe at large. The neuron behaves under a cellular and molecular algorithm, programmed by the physical laws of nature. It is an “incredible electrical device¹ — a contraption of tiny jigs, springs, hinges, rods, sheets, magnets, zippers, and trapdoors.”² The neuron is fundamentally nothing more than a sophisticated organic machine, which makes the brain like a biochemical factory — a bustling cellular mill filled with trillions of moving parts.

For reasons entirely unclear to us, the inner workings of this complex machine give rise to consciousness. As neuroscientist David Eagleman says: “Who you are depends on what your neurons are up to, moment by moment.”³ This is not to say that the actual experience of consciousness is reducible to the brain (it’s not); it is only to say that consciousness itself is caused by the brain. Without the brain, consciousness cannot exist; damage the brain and one finds that there are corresponding changes to the mind; ingest psychedelics and one undergoes a profound change to the quality of their conscious experience. We may not know how something like consciousness can emerge from…

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