Comments on: Coma and the tyranny of mental life

By: Alex Fradera

Alex Fradera — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 18:57:13 +0000

Yikes. I remember writing an essay for creative writing at school on precisely this issue – whether an internal mental life could be a legitimate bulwark against euthanasia, or ceasing active life support. But that’s partly why this research is so important – and important that we continue to recognise that not responding to environment /= not conscious /= no longer capable of conscious experience, while at the same time being aware that if the brain is sufficiently damaged, the latter category may well occur, even if the person seems ‘alive’ to ourselves.
Also, this phenomena occurs in the book Mother London by cult writer Michael Moorcock (and I say cult in the sense that he has a massively loyal fan-base, and has carved very much his own path in literature, not cult in the sense that some people use – “This is going to be a cult classic!” ie shit). That character spends some 16 years under, with some awareness of the outside but mainly preoccupied with a rich, continuous internal narrative involving film stars and figures from her past. It’s an interesting read, though, I stress, not a replacement for either of the two real-life accounts Vaughan mentions.

By: Vaughan

Vaughan — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 21:23:05 +0000

Because it seems the patients may have memories triggered by external prompting, but are unlikely to have conscious control over them, perhaps to call them up unbidden, or surpress others they would rather forget.
It seemed in stark contrast to locked-in syndrome, another, almost as terrifying disorder. This is where the brain stem is damaged and although the conscious mind seems intact, there is no conscious control over the body.
Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor of the French Elle magazine, suffered a stroke and became ‘locked-in’. He subsequently wrote the book “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” by indicating one letter at a time with the flick of an eyelid, virtually his only method of communication.
It is a humane and beautifully written book, but the difference between the conditions is striking. Bauby writes:
“My cocoon becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or King Midas’ court.
You can visit the woman you love, slide down beside her and stroke her still sleeping face. You can build castles in Spain, steal the Golden Fleece, discover Atlantis, realize your childhood dreams and adult ambitions.”
Both conditions seem to involve being ‘trapped’ in the body in some way, although perhaps the mind is much less self directed in MCS, remaining in a passive, but in some respects, surprisingly functional state.

By: tom

tom — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 19:12:18 +0000

Disturbing stuff
Karl Zimmer is good on this here:
http://www.corante.com/loom/archives/consciousness_and_the_culture_wars_part_three.php
But Vaughan, why the ‘tyranny’ of mental life?