The statement that there is no such a thing as pure perception (...) The statement also holds true when you are simply thinking of an object rather than actually perceiving it in the world outside your organism. Here is the reason why: The records we hold of the objects and events that we once perceived include the motor adjustments we made to obtain the perception in the first place and also include the emotional reactions we had then. They are all coregistered in memory, albeit in separate systems. Consequently, even when we "merely" think about an object, we tend to reconstruct memories not just of a shape or color but also of the perceptual engagement the object required and of the accompanying emotional reactions, regardless of how slight. Whether you are immobile from curarization or quietly daydreaming in the darkness, the images you form in your mind always signal to the organism its own engagement with the business of making images and evoke some emotional reactions. You simply cannot escape the affectation of your organism, motor and emotional most of all, that is part and parcel of having a mind. (Damasio, 147-148)
Damasio, Antonio 1999. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making Consciousness. Harcourt, 1999.)
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