actually, this reminds me... I reviewed an intro psych text written by a well-known neuropsych expert prior to its first edition; the chapter on nerves, brain & behavior was seriously messed up. At one point, the author, writing about the process of nerve transmission (specifically, the depolarization of the dendritic membrane due to neurotransmitter action at the synapse, and the threshold event that separates local potentials from action potentials), said "when a neuron decides it has had sufficient stimulation, it fires an action potential" (emphasis mine). Note the consciousness-language, being used in a clear S-R situation. There is no "deciding" taking place; the membrane's depolarization is a well-known phenomenon that does not require each cell to have a homunculus.
Of course, if we wish to argue that the cell does, in fact, decide, and that deciding is simply acting on the deterministic inputs by emitting the determined outputs... perhaps it is not all that different from how we decide after all.
Needless to say, the language did not make it to the first edition.
