Why rules?

Necessary to keep a society functioning

Get rid of free loaders or free riders
Keep people in line
The notion that it is important to behave for the good of one's society but also
for one's own well-being in the afterlife
The idea of a soul, its survival, the necessity of doing the irght thing to assu
re its survival are all packaged into a powerful source of social control
Ra vs Apophis
good vs evil
Ba
I have not done falsehood against men
I have not impoverished my associates
I have done no wrong in the Place of Truth
I have not learnt that which is not.
I have done no evil
I have not made people labor daily in excess of what was due to be done for me.
Heaven is for real
90 minutes in heaven
Hades
Elysian fields
Pythagorus
take on other people's perspective
consciousness
transmigration of souls
someplace, in the minds of someone else
souls follow their own rules
dualism
Plato, religious mythologies
Plato
the soul is immortal
after death, the soul retains what's essential to person, personality character
P and P - more important to take care
doesn't obey laws of physical objects
philosopher
riff raff-recycled after 10,000 years
new body
Buddhism
sufferings
cause of suffering
can learn to stop suffering
8 fold path
concentration, mindful, right view of life - to decrease suffering
meditation, observing your own mind
1. everything is always changing
2. only this moment exists
detached less suffering
your self doesn't exist
soul arises from self and vv
non-self
not hold on to a self separate to other organism
elements that cause you to being
seed tree seed
no soul but part of life
not a religion
buddha not a god
some parts worship
no after life
philosophy
type of psychology
buddha-understanding the mind
liked lists
education
for a job
to think
not all belief systems are religions
religion-set of beliefs causes, purpose of universe, creation, people in charge
early religion-no devotion
not much about life after death
gaps in understanding
speculating-believing-operation of unseen forces
kids-natural, agents in world
brain-
inborn talent to envision agents of good things and bad things happen
concrete representations of agents
externalize ideas
externalization
bargaining with gods
monotheism
Yahweh
devotion to single god
grand puppeteer
not the first accdg to one critic
our soul can imagine other realities'
soul never thinks without an image
nexting
Nous-highest part of rational soul, maybe mind
when it is set free it is immortal and eternal
Prime Mover
-> post judaic thinkers adopt aristotle
God was first cause of motion and soul is divine and immortal
religure
latin-to bind
communal dancing, trances, communication with spirits, gods, and dead ancestors
ned for group cohesion, territorial defense, handling freeloaders
the need to be a member of a tribe - physical survival (wade)
religion
social cohesion
monotheistic
stern
overseer of people's actions
fear of divine punishment in life and afterlife enhanced intra-tribal ties
learning how to be a mmeber of a tribe
imitation - values, worldviews
instruction
child-malleable
initiation
Cognitive Dissonance
fast, tithe
-effort, glad to be part,
like those with similar commitment
advantages of tribe embership
protection
sense of identity- I am a *relgion
support
secure
common meanings, worldview, goals
feel good
Protestantism and the weakening of ties that bind
Emile Durkheim
french sociologist in late 19th century
son of rabbi
rate of suicides
in protestant communities than catholic and jewish communities
anomie
-sense of being alienated
not connected, on your own, relying on own resources
lonely
physical survival to psychological survival
put soul into hands of god
Martin Luther - I am not I am not
lawyer->monk lightning
indulgences
identity-industrial revolution
Erik Erikson - author of young man luther
stage of identity formation
late adolescence
-blonde blue eyes jewish swedish
Identity
Who am I?
how do I fit into the adult world?
worldview-identity
core beliefs
what do i blieve?
what roles are available to me?
what is my ideology?
what is my tribe?
changes
defend identity, ideology
defending religious ideologies
part of identity
video
result of insulting a tribe
only takes a few people
do it bec. god is watching
research on religion and health
-7th day adventists
34% lower of not good health of standard male in health
12% of not good health women
mormons
religios active
55% better
45%
utah-mormons
nevada
-regular church attendance
-the earlier the better
god takes care of religous people
correlation between affiliation of church to longevity/
correlation is not causation
memberships
strict eating rules
healthy activities
good diet low in fats
smoking and alcohol banned
life less stressful - know people
low divorce rates
strong social norms
support network
old atheists
all religion is bunk-thomas edison
mark twain-letters from the earth (from satan to his fellow archangels, st.micha
el and st. gabriel)
god's experiment - law of nature
new atheists
the four horsemen
religion / science
separate magisteria
-the anatomy of internalized beliefs
sam harris the end of faith
letter to a christian nation
undergraduate degree in philosophy
studied religions
bible ancient
children believe what parents tell them
career opportunity - muslims turn themselves into bomb
religions-protected from criticism
taboo
divisive
paying the price
ability to cause ourselves harm
xspiritual experiences
religions
argues that is true
useful that is necessary
atheism - dogmatic intolerant another religion
bertrand russel
can't all be true - diversity
evidence?
terrible or nonexistence
no extrabiblical sources of miracles
first hand reports of miracles -
hindus, gurus
people who tell stories desperately want to believe them
lack of corroborating evidence
virgin birth
genghis khan
powers satya sai baba
alexander
bible and koran
-God written
deemed to be profound can't be conceived by human mind
isaac newton
solitude
integral calculus
gravity
no one is tempted to ascribe to divine agency
sam harris
phd in neuroscience
usefulness, validity of ancient literature
danger of continued proliferation
Richard Dawkins
The selfish gene
the god delusion
genes - listen to parents
mythology
comforting
privileged few who won the lottery of birth
how dare
12% do not
8% agnostic
europe
sweden 87
japan 65
france 54
great britan 44
mau
stalin
hitler
pol pot
bill reily
the brights
William Paley (1743-1805)
high in ranks of naglican church
a view of evidence of christianity
cambridge university required reading for 100 years
natural theology introduced metaphoro f watchmaker
complex - creation
design must have had a designer
person
god
modern day hero of Intelligent Design
Daniel Dennett
natural selection
Darwin's dnerous idea
breaking the spell
discuss religion
cristopher hitchens
god is not great
thug of group
author, journalist
anti anything totalitarian
Carl Sagan astronomer, strophysicist
a universe not made for us
political system
Francis Bacon
armchair philosophy
observatoin and experience
non-overlapping magisteria
religion / science
billy collins
"the first geniuses"
the acquisition of knowledge
Humans like to share ideas
some shared ideas are very casual
formal - expertise
challenge worldviews
phases of the moon
500 yrs ago
more time looking at things
big ideas: copernicus
planets -
special powers
curious correlations
making sense of the world by making sense of the sky
astrology
vagueness
gives some explanation
calculations
collecting info
middle ages - dark ages
1000 yrs
knowledge not important
frowned upon
renaissance
copernicus
big idea
sun in center
to good to be false
Bruno
burned at the stake
in the universe no center and no circumference exist, but the center is eerywher
e...as to us on earth, the earth seems to be the center of the universe, so to i
nhabitants of the mooon, the moon will appear as such...each world has its cente
r, each its up and down; these differences are to be assigned relatively
Galileo
sun center of universe
Newton - universal law of gravity
Bacon
scientific method - observation, measurement
replicability (add)
horse story
other ways of finding out info and trusting those ways
evidence based decision making
global sense
climate change
air pollution
energy problem
not convenient to solve that
not base actions and opinions on evidence
change mind -
not natural
Galileo
John Paul II - theologians who condemned Galileo did not recognize the formal di
stinction between the Bible and its interpretation. "This led them unduly to tra
nspose into the realm of the doctrine of the faith, a question which in fact per
tained to scientific investigation."
earth's picture from space
nasa scientists
electric lights
extension of senses
scientific method, empiricism, and mathematics have all forced expansion of beli
efs beyond senses - Traveling Senses
.Things aren't always what they sem
.We don't live where we think we do
.We aren't what we think we are
methods
mechanical, electronic tools
Charles Darwin
ennoble humankind
challenged, accepted
talk civilly
"There is a simple grandeur in the view of life with its powers of growth, assim
ilation, and reproduction,...that from so simple an origin, through the process
of gradual selections of infinitesimal changes, endless forms most beautiful and
wonderful have evolved."
Darwin's Zeitgeist
Victorian England-the first "Information Age"?
Charles Darwin was young, undecided, and restless
pamphlets
-expected to succeed
physician?
clergyman
Captain Fitzroy
the beagle (1832 to 1837)
didn't get along
naturlaist
sail mail
species and where they came from
amazing diversity of flora and fauna
incredible landscapes
seashells on a mountaintop
malthus on population dynamics
an earthquake (july 1837) darwin's prototypical scene
the Big idea!
tree
evolution

5 year journey
1842 darwin had
drafted most of the ideas
insured the eventual publication
delay
but
daughter died
son ill
darwin ill
studied barnacles
anonymous - vestiges of the natural history of creation (1844) the victorian sen
sation
and that pesky brain thing
walace's wake up call
brain
behavior
mind
soul
didn't want to face that
charles wallace
1859
origins of the species
a tour de force of the theory
deliberately scholarly to counter vestiges
fitzroy's lament
there is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been o
riginally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet ha
s gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a begini
ng endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evo
lved.
"the book" bible
slit his throat
Two Main Process drive evolution
natural variation
natural selection
peppered moth
adaptive coloration
industrial revolution
dark grey soot
dark peppered moth
changed with environment
sheep
sick liverfluke
healthy sheep stayed healthy and sick stayed sick
sheep droppings
nutrient value
snail
slimeball
ant
The Natural Heritage of the Brain
MacLean's Triune Brain
Reptilian
Paleomammalian
Neomammalian
Darwin's Two Simple Rules
Natural variability
Natural selection
NPR
descent with modification
Kalat: "Some ancient animals that acted the way we do survived and reproduced mo
re successfully than some closely related animals that acted some other way; the
first group of animals therefore became our ancestors and the second group beca
me extinct.
Freud's Triune Mind
Ego
Id
Superego
bec. of behavior
Darwin's Loss of Geological Time
Young earth creationists--stage
Lucy-stadium
lord Kelvin-somerville
dinosaurs-harrisburg
first life-san francisco
each step thousand years
Darwin's Loss of Mendelian Genetics
Addressed society of bruenn (1865)
hybridization
inheritance
snubbed by elitists
invisible characters
50 yrs before genetics
100 yrs before dna
They (creation and evolution) are presented as alternatives that exclude each ot
her...this clash is an absurdity becaus on one hand there is much scientific pro
of in favor of evolution, which appears as a relaity that we must see and which
enriches our understanding of life and being as such."
pope benedict vi
Mental Evolution
"in the future i see open fields for far more important researches. psychology w
ill be securely based on ...the necessary acquirement of each mental power and c
apacity by gradation"
charles darwin
we didn't always have brains that did BIG ideas. when, in the process, did we ha
ve:
consciousness
mind
soul
The Mind-Body Problem
Rene Descartes
He thinks therefore he is
"I had after this described the reasonable soul, and shown that it could by no m
eans be educed from the power of matter,...but that it must be expressly created
; and ...that it is necessary for it to be joined and united more closely to the
body, in order to have sensations and appetites similar to ours, and thus const
itute a real man."
source and origin of life forces
essence
properties
Animism
Attribution of sentience (soul or spirit)
ideas go back at least to Aristotle
we hang onto them in our everyday language
my computer hates me!
heavy objects want to fall
water seeks its own level
pack mule: military
humans thought about minds before we knew it was the brain:
heart?
head?
looking for the source of animism
cave drawings
aristotle
heart
brain-cools body
...
head
heart
Descartes
stays in bed until noon
France
dutch colonies
military
3 dreams/visions
spurred to involve in science math find truth
cartesian coordinates
i perceive rokcs trees and my own body but it is possible that they exist only i
n my mind
but my thoughts must exist, or i would not have them
i think therefore i am cogito ergo sum
I am not perfect, so there must be something more perfect that created my though
ts (god)
God does not deceive (perfect) so rocks, trees and my body must be actual physic
al objects, separate from my mental processes
mind occupied body temporarily
mind/body
humans/animals
Descartes' Dualist Views Oversimplified
If animals had minds they would have everlastign souls and language; therefore a
nimals must be mechanistic stimuls-response "machines"
mr.scratch
unconscious behaviors (reflexes; scratching an itch) in humans is also mechanist
ic
Conscious thought processes control voluntary actions, and while in temporary re
sidence in the body, control the body via the pineal gland ("seat of the soul")
program in brain
waiting for u to release it
conscious decision to unleash program
description of what happened
brain imaging
we believe our mind is telling our brain what to do and brain follows
the Dilemma of Consciousness
Dualism: most humans see their minds (mental) as being separate from their bodie
s (physical)
"I (this body) have a mind
you (your body) also have a mind (theoretically)
asking your mind, "do you have a body?" seems sort of silly
theory of mind
assume we can understand ur body
Monism
view that everything that exiss is physical and obeys the Laws of Physics
Fire is the same thing as processes occuring in a candle
Mental events are the same thing as processes occuring in the brain
This Identity position is a hard sell because it never FEELS like that!
We easily view the mind as the source of our behavior (making up one's mind)
where is your mind? dmo
b/d
when did your mind begin?
phylogeny
ontogeny
unfolding comlexity
When does it end?
A lot of people don't want their to end-ever!
Or those of their loved ones (Dennett's corpse problem"
Graham 0blind but can see
blind sight
detect things but not aware
prof blakemore
we can manage brain without consciousness
what is consciousness for
vision is separate from being aware
esp
eyeball thalamus
visual part
visual cortex consciously see
older
rodents, birds, reptiles
brainstem
reflexive
direct gaze
lizard brain-reflexive
movement/non-movement
traveling self
personal history
natural
clyve wearing
no memory
here and now
current events, surroundings
diary
no traveling self
no future
no past
The physical brain is obviously in control of many processes that are unimaginab
ly complex-one of the things it does is the conscious mind.
What more do we need??
Do we always need mindfulness?
Thinking and Feeling
Antonio R. Damasio and a Patient named Marivn
To Think by feeling
The adult brain
marvin stroke, cut off from emotions
amygdala
visceral
emotion
memory
decision
Descarte's error
i feel tehrefore i am
subtle feelings
preconscious lvel
after his stroke, marvin was no longe rmarvin
antonio damasio "feelings form the base for what humans have described for mille
nia as the human soul or spirit.
Phineas Gage
frotnal lobes-personality
phrenology
specialized reigions
plans
reason
decisions
inhibit behavior
Eliot-modern day Phineas
cognitive abilities remained unchanged
iq
good preceptual ability
math
language skils
ability to imagine solutions to a host of roblems
but not able to make any action decisions
elliot was no longer elliot
lost felings
soul-feel
personality has changed
no longer who you were
frontal lobes?
but more complicated
planning
perception of self in future-feelings, even without u knowing
organizing
problem solving
decision making
controlling behavior and emotions
Ogilvie suspects that frontal lobe critically involved in creating and evaluatin
g images of ourselfs in the future and making dcisions based on waht we 'see' an
d on what we 'feel' when we see what we see.
sense-emotions interfere with thinking
true at some point
we rely on emotions as guides
balance bwn thinking and feeling
inhibit feelings destructive on you and others
drinking 0 frontal lobe
Phineas, Eliot, Marvin-frontal lobes
The brain constitutes a very important part of the CNS but it's not the only par
t. Peripheral Nervous system connecting brain to rest of body. Nerves ferry impu
lses from brain to body and body to brain. Brain and body are also interconnecte
d chemically by substances such as hormones and peptides which are carried back
and forth by bloodstream or molecules that can penetrate the brain/body barrier.
-constant interaction bwn brain and body instantaneously
Following Damasio's lead, Ogilvie propose that body plays much greater role in d
ecision making by way of generating feelings than is recognized by most neurosci
entists and most cognitive scientists.
2 way stream of info
mammals
two survival needs
physical survival-survive long enough to propagate
-reptilian and paleomammalian brains, at most primitie level
psychological survival (probably for humans only)
cognitive equipment, social world
how to survive in group of people, early age in family, member of group, how to
avoid being abused, be liked respected loved
job
pressure
.largely in the hands of cerebral cortex(especially frontal lobes) and its inter
actions with feelings and emotions that emerge from body)
limbic system-emotions
reptilian-breathing etc
automaticity
cerebral cortex unique to mammals
frontal lobe - more percentage of human brain
Review of parts of triune brain
Reptilian brain
mostly in and around brian stem
controls basic life functions like balance, breathing, heart rate, territorial d
ominance, and ritual displays
paleomammalian brain
also called limbic system and/or midbrain
involved in learning and memory at a most primitive level, emotion, approach and
avoidance, feeding and reproductive behavior
calming the internal mileu of the body
neomammalian brain
cerebral cortex
found uniquely in mammals
forebrain portion of cerebral cortex much larger for humans than any other mamma
l
confers ability for language, planning, and consciousness
and Oglivie will argue that the forebrain is largely responsible for providing h
uman beings with the burden of surviving psychologically
Psychological survival
living in the world of others
whod do you have to do or be to survive in social world?
hard wired for physical survival but have to learn how to survive psychologicall
y
1. conditioning and reinforcement, rewards and punishments
2. trial and error
role of feelings in making it through the day
.recognizing people
recognizing alterations in the environment-what's going on with mom?
pet is burnt to a crisp
-upset balance of internal milleu, solution
run thru various possibilities
Rules for regulating the Internal Milieu of the body
.HOw should I act, what should I want, what should I elieve,etc., to not feel ba
d about myself, to not feel anxious, to feel loved and respected, etc?
change in environment, thinking about something
An example of a decision
I am unworthy, unwanted
-drives u
take a look at belief, when was it installed, and how and why it's important to
u
childhood experiences
memories of many examples
dismissal of counterevidence
proving unworthiness
belief-feelings don't touch this feelings
Another belief
I must be liked by everybody who knows me
Terror Management Sheldon Solomon
Soul - universal
nature of soul beliefs
cultural anthropologist
ernest becker
birth and death of meaning
denial of death - pulitzer
escape from evil
motivational perspective
bdm - understand why people do things when they do when they do them
lay out epistemological guidelines
how we can know anything, nature of knowledge
assumption
1.no single academic field has handle on truth
psych philo theo socio lit pop culture music film
intellectual net as widely
consider ideas wide but critical
consider all, but some ideas are better than others
2. we need to be empirical, test ideas
3. practical
how we can use knowledge
4. we need to position any idea that we have abt nature of human in context of t
heory of nat. selection
self-preservation
diff forms of life has diff ways of doing that
people-
curios
autoonmous phys entities not considerable
as humans
-
1.profoundly social creatures - cooperation, collective survival
2.fantastically intelligent
humans are unique bec. are alone in the natural world
only form that able to imagine things that don't exist
transform dreams to reality
otto rank
only human beings make the unreal real
others -must accept
kieerkegard
ppl so smart we realize that we exist
consciousness/selfawareness
neurologically intact 4-5 yrs aware of his existence
self-introspection
needs sophisticated cognitive apparatus
to render urself the object of your own subjective inquiry
once u're aware that u exist
u'll experience
uniquely human emotions
awe
dread
be alive, know you're alive, and appreciate it
if u know you're alive, you'll know you'll die
one of the most momentous events of human life-
not only the prospect of dying, but concommitant ralization it can be anytime
inevitablity, anytime, don't like that we're animals
existential crisis
culture
consists of humanly constructed beliefs abt nature of reality that we share with
other people in part to reduce anxiety
result of awareness of death
psychological and behavioral
we are persons of value in a world of meaning
culture gives us sense that we live in meaningful universe
and that we contribute in a significant way to that universe
terror management
becker birth and death of meanig
meaning
value
all cultures origin of universe, prescription, right and wrong, promise of immor
tality behave in accdg cultural dictates
literal immortality - heaven, afterlife
symbolic imm (robert j. lifton)
Plato
some vestige of ourselves to persist
children, books, art, structures
treating religion disrespectfully?
becker - religious
psychology
not intention to debunk soul, deities
theodore dyosvky
grand inquisitor
if there were no gods man will create them
psychological tendency to lean towards that
to stand in the morning need to believe life has meaning
disillusioned, demoralized, depression
-neuroanatomical imbalances
we need to believe that we are valuable contributors to the cultural drama which
we subscribe
not pathological narcissism
we are here for some reason, life has some purpose
social roles, associated standards of conduct
-person of value in world of meaning
self-esteem
feels good
self esteem is when we are valuable participants in a meaningful universe
reduce anxiety
discomfort on mortality
we need self-esteem
but we don't get self esteem for yourself by yourself, u get it when u satisfy t
he standards of value that are adhered to at the context of culture
times and places when it's easier for people to get self esteem than others
martin soliman
pres. apa
america 10% more depressed than after world war, 1/3 drugs
whenever there's a large population that finds it hard to feel good about thems
elve
need to look at culture if there's opportunities
there were times when it's easier
empirical assessment of terror management theory
self-esteem anxiety buffer
paper
experiment
boost self-esteem
fake shocks
mortality salience and worldview defense
beliefs about reality serves as a death denying function
cultural constructs reduce death anxieties
experiment
reminded of mortality - likes same group
hates different gruop
seat
harm others if they're different from others
iranian suicide bombers
preemptive use of weapons
reminded of death - yes
bush/carrie
rutgers
bush-mortality 3 to 1
carrie 4 to 1
allusions to matters pertaining to mortaility
realworld
funeral, grocery
lab- flash death
some cultures value tolerance
not the same results
high self esteem
different from narcissism - don't have self-esteem
common humanity
genetic bottleneck
fantasies of flight-
fly-immortal, invulnerable
soul - disinclination to die
albert camoo
"there's only one liberty to come 2 terms with death after which everything beco
mes possible'
otto rock
voluntary affirmation of the obligatory
-the way you choose to respond to that fact
erik errikson
8th stages of man
-if parents have the courage to die, children have courage to live
-attitude you adopt to your finitude
yourself
treat others
children
condition of world
ANATOmY oF INTERNAL BELIEFS
Psychology
neuroscience prof hamilton
cognitive psych - learning and memory sensation and perception, decisions
clinical psych - psychopathology, practice cure, behaviorist, unlearn bad, learn
new skills, reinforcement
social psych - how people influence each other
personality psychologist
representations of representations
undesired self
-now
ideal self-future
fantasies of flight
-peterpan
soul beliefs
arts and sciences, general education
Like a Rock
quote form darwin
NOr should we overlook the probability of the constnt inculcation of a belief in
God on the minds of children producing so storng and perhaps inherited effect o
n their brains not fully developed, that it would be as difficult for them to th
roww off their belief in God, as for a monkey to throw off its instinctive fear
of snakes."
is Darwin suggesting we have God gene?
probably not, genes had not yet been discovered
is he sugesting we have inherited an inclination to believe in God?
in modern terms, that would mean that ancient men and women who believed in God
were more 'fit' than disbelievers. they survived and thereby passed on predispos
itions to believe.
timely not constant
instinctive vs. learned behaviors
hard-wired, instinctive behaviors
.eyeblink
.startle reaction
.sucking reflex
learned behaviors
.electrical outlet
.sunscreen
.language
.belief in Santa Claus
.belief in God
Other than being born with some instincts, babies are born with
Stupid
instinct + capacity to learn
similarities bwn Santa Claus and God
both
adult males
are bearded
know everything about you
are omnipresent
but they differ i terms of omnipotence (power)
new iPod
life ever after in very nice place for being good
child-5min forever
based on God's observations, knowledge, and wisdom, He or one of his emissaries
will determine the eternal, everlasting fate of our soul. We're talking survival
stories like this,if taught and reinforced early enough, become internalized, nt
-to-be-questioned, conscious and unconscious, fixed beliefs
another story
theory of evolution or descent by modification
natural variation of traits
natural selectin based on adapttability to environmental pressures
why is it so difficult to replac one story, supernatural creation story, wiht an
other story, the one that features descent by modification?
efforts to debunk religions
brain and peripheral nervous system
neocortex-higher order thinking
limbic brain-emotions
brain stem survival
rat in alley
preserve image of oneself
anxious - sometimes know exactly why
sometimes not
reminiscent
internal milue and physical and psych survival
aim for homeostasis
damasio - we are feeling machines that think.
happenings in external world can distrub internal milieu of the body
fear of heights, snake - picture
reactive to environment
think thoughts that disturb internal milieu
something associated with calming the internal milieu (with easing your anxiety)
is a strong cnadidate for becoming an internalized belief
'don't worry, God will take care of you i fyou take good care of your soul"
something associated with calming the interla milieu (with eas
Challenging an internalized belief is tantamount to challlenging psychological
survival
Freud's Conception of the Human Psyche
(the iceberg metaphor)
Conscious
-
Preconscious
Superego
Nonconscious
-Ego*-
Unconscious
Rock- Internalized soul Belief, Protected by feelings
Note: Ego is freefloating in all three levels
Internalized beliefs are protected byfeelings. Attacking a person's beliefs is t
antamount to attacking their feelings and disturbing the internal milieu of the
body.
confirmation bias - u want all beliefs confirmed
belief - u stop thinking
Like a large boulder lying just beneath the surface of a steam that directs the
flow of water around it, a solidly grounded internalizd belief automatically and
effortlessly determines the acceptability and unacceptability of ideas coming i
ts way in terms of whether or not that information represents a threat to contin
ued existence of the self.
As we learn more about God, his will, what traditions we must follow to please h
im, etc. the rock gets
rock gets bigger and gets fixed in place
the new atheists are not only attacking religion, they are attacking the rock an
d the feelings that protect it.
By promoting the Darwin's ideas about evolution, new atheists are promoting the
idea that there is death after life.
That draws a strong diviging line between proponents of scientific atheism and r
eligions that promise life after death.
We can't talk much abt psychological survival without bringing in the concept of
the self.
stupid babies - even into adulthood, some indiviiduals continue to be stupid
cute - to take care
And just as some adults remain stupid throughout their lives, some cute, adorabl
e, and loveable babies evolve into cute, adorable, loveable adults
assumptions
The human brain evolved over millions of years. That brain is a brain-in-progras
s at infancy. It is by no means fully developed at birth. It continues the proce
ss of maturation until around age 30. But the most dramatic changes occur in chi
ldhood.
senses of self
meme -spread
How does someone become a feeling perosn who thinks and what does thinking, or b
etter, what does believing, have to do with calming the internal milieu of the b
ody?
Relatedely, how do beliefs regulate feelings and how do feelings alter beliefs/
Preview of senses of selves
.The Protoself
. Core Self
.Subjective and Intersubjective Sel
.Objective Self
.Symbolic Self
.Traveling Self
Why cute, adorable, lovable?
Bred to survive
We are 'seekers of objects' -Human objects
4-6 months to feel and be involved in relationships
Ned to be picked up, held, stimulated by mvmt and words that accompany the movem
ent. Being cute, adorable, and lovable helps
-orphanages
picked up
not
early stages of self dev'
tDaniel stern-child psychiatrist and infant researcher
Antonio Damasio - neuroscientist
didn't interact much
same conclusions
outside in
inside out
the Protoself
born with budding sense of self, beneath awareness
Daniel Stern-The infant operates with the non-reflective awareness that it is a
bounded entity, shows preferences, makes choices.
like to stare at certain pictures, smiley face
mother milk
damasio-there's a coherent coleection of neural patterns that map moment by mome
nt the state of the phys structure of the organism in all of its dimensions. Pro
toself monitors and regulates the body's internal milieu and does what it needs
to do to maintain a condition of homeostasis.
brain stem one shape that fis all species
hamilton, following maclean, referred to it as the reptilian brain
the Core Sense of Self
Core self is built upon th eprotoself. it continues to monitor the internal mili
eu and develops the capacity to associate some coincidences between alterations
in the internal milieu and events in the environment. more specifically, the alt
erations of feelings become linked with events in the environment.
Core Self and learning in humans and other animals
contingencies of reinforcement
mother and child intersubjective attunement
intersubjective self
recover
sharing of subjective selves
caregiver
intersubjective sense of self
me with mom
me with other people
stern-child doesn't have sense of self outside of relationship
infant
continues in life
sense of self with mom in good mood
bad mood
other people
mental representations
when they're violated the process stops
-look at what went wrong
what do i need to do to reistablish or conmplete mental representation
attachment
child hides behind mother
attachment system
jungle
times when caretaker not available
something takes place
imagine she'll come back
working model-
mental represntation - even when she's not there, she still exists
cognitive development
Attachment and the onset of working models
Side note on the importance of working models in daily life
working model-saves energy
guide
it is very likely that the emergence of the core self and the intersubjetive sel
f are related to the maturation of the limbic system
Hypothalamus
pituitary gland
Amygdala
Hippocampus-memory
The nset of an objective sense of self
18 months
13 months rouge
rub it off the mirror
18momths, take it off
son of oglivie
mirror
"that sam"
elephants, etc -recognize themselve
theory of mind-recognizing that other people have minds
before 18 months
-what is true for them is true for others
phythagoras
laws-physical
minds - move on own accord
Fishies
Sally-Anne Test
autistic can't
Alligator eats mouse
-misses mom, friends, hungry
Blume - children natural dualist
naturally thinks something suvives death, feelings, emotions, sensations
The importance of reading other people's minds
Empathy
sometimes we attribute our minds to others
we can't see their minds
monkeys neurons control muscle
when monkey observe others, mirror neurons
we can learn by observation
clicking away
also involved with empathy
characterized with our capability for empathy
..
The SYmbolic Self
Unique to humans damasio-extended self stern-verbal self
This is the self we talk about. The self we compare with other selves, the self
that we believe gives us directions, offers us guidance, the self that Mark Lear
y observes can be a curse.
climbing symbolic peak-nonsense
we are struggling to be worthy
curse
we have to prove our worthiess
Precursors
all the other senses of selfe
language
theory of mind
etc
neocortex
symbolic self frequently accompanies the mind in mental time travel self (MTT)
what is the evolutionary advantage of possessing a mind capable of travelling? f
rom the forest to the savanna.
dare see the possibilities
imagine oneself in future - survival
traveling mind
check situation
what will it feel like
Dan Gilbert "Our brains have a unique structure that allows us to mentally trans
port ourselves into future circumstances and then ask ourselves how it feels to
be there. Rather than calculating utilities with mathematical precision, we simp
ly step into tomorrow's shoes and see how well they fit. Our ability to project
ourselves forward in time and experienc e events before they happen enables us t
o learn from our mistakes without making them and to evaluate actions without ta
king them. if nature has given us a greater gift, no one has named it.
MTT
eposidic memory as a precursor to imagining self in the future
evolve gradually
The ability to remmeber what happened yesterday isa cognitive skill that takes a
long time to develop.
Current research indicates that episodic memory is on the way to being establish
ed between the ages of 3 and 4. prior to that age, children pretty much live in
the 'now' with only spotty memories of what happened yesterday and are not able
to take a peek into tomorrow.
that achanges with onset of MTT stepping into tomorrow showes and see how they f
it and feel\
are we the only creatures able of planning for the future/
what about scrub jays? (storing wax worms and nuts)
monkeys in brazil crush nuts
some evidence that certain animals have rudimentary skills in this area, but non
e of them come close to matching or MTT abilities. some argue that MTT marks a d
iscontinuity between us and other animals.
upsides of MTT
planning
Downsides of MTT
GAD generalized anxiety disordr
-looking for something happening, preventing it from happening
can imagine own death
how do u suppose the protoself and the core self respond to the idea of death/ w
hat could possibly calm the internal milieu?
would something like 'dont worry you will live forever' work? or 'you will live
forever if you follow these religious instructions"
do u figure that would calm the internal milieu?
the makings of internalized beliefs/ the early foundations of the rock.
don't forget that the proto self is still in full operation as it monitors the i
nternal miieu of the body form moment to moment. the core self also remains on a
ctive duty, monitoring, from moment to moment, the external envirnoment, noticin
g any alterations of feelings, and making appropriate adjustments.
natural or common sense dualism (Bloom reading assignment)
Two cognitive systems:
One for dealing with material objects
One for dealing with social entities
Two survival needs:
Physical survival
psychological survival
is boyd/mind dualism the same as body/soul dualism?
in other words is the mind the same ast the soul?
the lit. on this topic use the mind and the soul interchangeably
tricky topic. do people believe that their minds will survive the death of their
bodies or that their souls will survive the death of their bodies?
why would children be receptive to the idea that they have a soul?
we know it calms the internal milieu. but why is it cognitively acceptable?
.chidlren naturally believe bthat feelings and desires survive death (alligator
eats mouse)
age 4 can imagine themelves in future
After-Life, Out of Body and Disembodied: What's the Evidence?
Julien Musolino, PhD
The emperor's new soul
the traditional soul is a scientific claim
consciousness free will moral compass
potentially survive phys death
religious theological metaphysical scientific claim
series of scientific claims
physics, biology psychology, neuroscience
if it is scientific claim,
then it can be validated objectively
contrary to what many believe, tehre is no real evidence supporting the existenc
e of the soul
moreover, modern physics, biology and psychology render the existence of the sou
l extremely implausible
there is solid evidence supporting the conclusion that our minds arise from the
operation of our brains
we have nothing to lose morally, spiritually, or aesthetically by giving up our
soul beliefs
temple university interview
two views of human nature
soul
materialism/physicalism
the tone of discussion
3 questions about the soul
.does sci have anything to say about the soul/
.what is at stake?
.why is it that virtually all scinetists no longer believe in the traditional so
ul/
a positive message
The soul
Egyptians - anubis
Greeks
aristotle's souls
Nutritive soul Sensitive soul rational soul
didn't believe souls can detach from body at death unlike plato
rene descartes (modern conception of soul)
scientific revolution
body res extensa - body substance extended in space
contact mechanics
soul - res cogitans thinking substance
cartesian notion
interact
soul - makes u do things, push buttons free will decisions
body - make u feel in soul
animals-lack soul
automaton
french 17th century cat burning
driving around NJ
after you die you will meet god. hebrews 9:27
assumptions
80% us god must exist
sometinga bout u meet god - soul after death
in the beginning god created genesis 1:1
1855 truth
university
gospelbillboards.com
newsweek heaven is real
dr. eben alexander nde -raymond moody, md phd
buckle up
-ad british ad for seatbelt
(Substance) dualism
Dualism is the concept that our mind is more than just our brain. This concept e
ntails that our mind has a non-material, spiritual dimension that includes consc
iousness and possibly an eternal attribute. One way to understand this concept i
s to condier our self as a container including our physical body and physical br
ian along with a separate non-physical mind, spirit, or soul.
From all about philosophy
2009 harris poll (2,303 amrican adults)
God 82%
miracle 76
heaven 75
angels 72
survival of soul after death 71
devil 60
darwin's theory of evolution 45
15
religiosity and wealth
pew global attitudes project, nov 2007
the american paradox
the prosperous few and the restless many
Psychology students at rutgers
60-70 soul
"The soul is the life inside the physical body. It gives the body life and has a
record of all your actions while alive .some of the properties it has are that
it can survive death and remember what you have done, even though you might not.
"
"I believe my soul is the non-material being of myself. the part that is distinc
t from both my mind and my external body. i believe the soul to be unchanging an
d eternal...because i think the soul is imperishable i also believe that it wil
survive the death of my body.'
"I would define my soul as the spirit inside of me that is currently present in
a human form. The properties of the soul are that it contains all of our emotion
s and feelings. i believe that when i die my soul will live on.
Traditional soul
non-physical/immaterial,distinct from the body
endows us with some of our psychological functions - feeilngsmemories consciousn
ess moral compass
capable of surviving death of bodies and preserve some of its psychological func
tions
the soul hypothesis
mark c. baker
stewart goetz
most people at most times in most places at most ages
that humans have a soul
the astonishing hypothesis
francis crick
-dna
You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of
personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of a va
st assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.
early materialism
democritus 460-370 bc
everything inc mind is matter in motion
Julien delaMetterie
Julien de la Mettrie
L'homme Machine
don't need soul to explain humans
biological terminators
Materialism is a set of related theories which hold that all entities and proces
ses are composed of - or are reducible to - matter, material forces or physical
processes. in general, the metaphysical theory of materialism entails the denial
of the reality of spiritual beings, consciousness and mental ... states or proc
esses, as ontologically distinct from, or independnt of material changes or proc
esses.
routledge encyclopedia of philosophy
Modern scientific view
joshua greene, harvard
from social neuroscience and the soul's last stand
Most people are dualists (bloom,2004). Intuitively, we think of ourselves not as
physical devises, but as immaterial minds or souls housd in physical bodies. mo
st experimental psychologists and neuroscientist disagree, at least officially.
The modern science of mind proceeds on the asumption that the mind is simply wha
t the brain does. We don't talk much about this, however. We scientists take the
mind's physical basis for granted. Among the general public, it's a touchy subj
ect'
Owen Flanagan
There is no consensus yet about the details of the scientific image of persons.
But there is broad agreement about how we must construct this detailed picture.
First, we will need to demythologize persons by rooting out certain unfounded id
eas from the perennial philosophy. Letting go of the belief in souls is a minima
l requiremenet. In fact, desouling i shte primary operation of the scientific im
age (p.3)
From the Problem of the soul
Compassionate skepticism
Carl Sagan
"In the say skepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there i
s a tendency to belittle, to condescent, to ignore hte fact that...supporters of
[the traditional view[ are human beings with real beliefs, who, like skeptics,
are trying to figure out how the world works and what our role in it might be. T
here motives are in many cases consonant with science"
Baruch Spinoza's motto
I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn huma
n actions, but to understand them"
Acknowledging our limits
"All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike - and yet
, it is the most precious thing we have"
-albert einstein
.Physics
descartes soul thru pineal gland
how does soul interact with body
equations
biology
not created on earth 10000yrs
crationism evolution
14b yrs old universe
earth 5b
at what point did the soul come into evolution
human special property?
neuroscience
The soul is a scientific hypothesis
Proof of the Afterlife The Conversation Continues Br. Gary Joseph
Evidence of the Afterlife The Science of Near Death Experiences Jeffrey Long MD
with paul Perry
Life after Death the Evidence Dinesh D'Souza
The soul hypothesis
There is nothing inherently anti-scientific about the soul hypothesis...ofcourse
, it is worht considering whether scientific rsearch might show that the soul hy
pothesis is false...but that is a very different matter from saying that it is i
ntrinsically anti-scientific and hence entirely out of bounds...
Introduction p.5
The Stakes
how we view a number of impt social, moral, political religious and cultural iss
ues
.the afterlife
.free will
.morality and moral responsibility
polls
.our criminal justice system
.issues like abortion
.fear
The stakes
worse than creationism paul bloom
for the law, neuroscience changes nothing and everything - joshua greene and jon
athan cohen
cease consciousness - frightening
Fear of nihilism
The Wedge Center of science 7 culture discovery institute
The goal of a new army of cultural warriors in america 10 yrs ago was to defeat
sci materialism and its destructive moral, cultural, and political legacies.
to replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that natu
re and human beings are creted by god
Fear of nihilism
Tom Delay
colombine
reported in new york times 1999
The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare
, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth c
ontrol pills.
our school systems teach our children that they are nothing but glorified apes w
ho have evolutionized out of some primordial soup o fmud, by teaching evolution
as fact.
make people afraid of science and implications
The form of the argument
the soul is a scientific hypothesis
there is no serious evidence for the existence of souls
therefore there are no serious reasons to believe in souls
moreover, modern science renders the existence of the soul extremely improbable
there is serious evidence for materialism
therefore there are good reasons not to believe in souls
functions that are/were attributed to the soul can now be programmed into machin
es
continuum
3 groups of people
scientific consensus
agent scully
agent mulder-want to believe
Arguments for the soul
1st person arguments ex descarte
Death or near death - reincarnation, nde
the unexplained - soul of the gaps
- consciousness
First person arguments
A brief history of the soul Stewart Goetz and Charles Tuliaferro
In light of our brief history of thought about the soul, which shows that the so
ul's existence is affirmed largely, if not entirely, on the basis of first-perso
n experience p.181
subjectively percieve world
subjective states/reality
soul feels like separate from body
if you feel like that whay
Subjective reality
Isomorphism
Objective reality
Res extansa
Res cogitans
Feels true but false
subjective reality powerful, dream
objective reality
Feels fals but true
Subjective reality earth not moving
Can't trust subjective intuitions for objective realities
counterintuitive
science
evolve from simple lifeforms
advanced physics
Arguments for soul
The red surface of an apple does not look like a matrix of molecules reflecting
photons at certain critical wavelengths, but that is what it is
The soun of a flute does not sound like a sinusoidal compression wave train in t
he atmosphere, but that is what it is
The warmth of the summer air does not feel like the mean kinetic enery of millio
ns of tiny molecules, but that is what it is
If one'spains and hopes and beliefs do not introspectively seem like electrochem
ical states in a neural network, that may be only because our faculty of introsp
ection, like our other senses, is not sufficiently penetrating to reveal such hi
dden details
third person objective corrobotive evidence
Clueless conscious mind
principles deployed when we use language
iceberg
cognitive psych
decisions
moral judgements
pay attention to
Incognito The secret lives of the brain David Eagleman
The first principle
Richard feynman
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest p
erson to fool'
death or near death
Heaven is real
Eben Alexander - nde cerebral cortex shut down
Greeks, Plato soldier NDE
asc
pleasant emotions; calmness and serenity
visions of a tunnel with bright light at the end
encounters with deceased relatives or spiritual figures
experiencing a life review
OBE
=when it was powered back again
On contrarians
97 out of 100 climate experts think humans are causing global warming
Anderegg, Prall, harold, and Schneider (2010) PNAS
Flat earth society
Charles k. Johnson president 1972-2001

The publication process
nature
science
consciousness can detach from body - nobel prize
change science fundamentally
science journals
pitch to public
The consensus position
There is nothing paranormal about near-death experiences; how neuroscience can e
xplain seeing bright lights, meeting the dead, or being convinced you are one of
them
Dean mobbs1 and Caroline Watt2
1Medical research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, C
ambridge CB2 7EF, UK
University of Edinburgh, Department of Psychology, 7 George Square, Edinburgh, E
H8 JX, UK
Trends in cognitive Sciences Oct 2011, Vol.15 No.10
Sam Harris blog
But
combat pilot
high acceleration
NDE
DMT
affect brain chemically
conscoiusness created by brain
The soul of the gaps
he unexplained soul of the gaps
The problem of qualia (the hard problem)
-how can arrangement phys matter experience qualia (personal)
the problem of free will
-may be true but not evidence
-formaly stated, predict
All this evidence that there are things that we do not (yet?) understand
If postulating a soul helped us understand those issues better, then so much the
better for the soul hypothesis, but it doesn't...
In sum
There is no formalism that describes what the 'immaterial' substance of souls is
not equal to energy
Newton - attraction that can act at a distance
equations
no clue what soul is
There is no objective empirical evidence that souls exist
No explanatory gain comes from postulating the existence of souls
seems that soul has properties that it doesn't exist
Its actually work
Jaegwon Kim Physicalism, or something near enough
-philosophy
Ghost
Elizabeth of Bohemia -Descartes
how can immaterial substance intearct with physical
The interaction problem
HOw can we decide that it is G1 that killed A (and not B) vv
A1. Find a continuous causal path bwn G1 and A and between G2 and B
A2: FInd a paring relationship, R such as that R holds of G1 and A and G2 and B,
but not of G1 and B2 and G2 and A.
A2: R coulb be something like properly oriented, at the appropriate distance
A2: Spatial
understand conceptualize formalize
Q: cand D
how can we decide that soul1 mad c move and not D and that it is soul2 that made
D move (and not c)?
A2: Soul 2 is closer to C than D or more properly positioned?
-soul nonspatial by definition
-perception based on space
-incoherent
logic philosophy biology neurscience physics
Cannot be coherently stated
Souls seem to have exactly the properties that they should have if they didn't e
xist
On evidence
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
how do they know?
The evidence
No serious evidence vs. Serious evidence
Materialism
Genetic disorders affecting the brain and the mind
Cognitive/mental abilitis change as an individual, and his or here brain grows/m
atures
Mental/cognitive functions can be diminished, lost or altered as a result of bra
in injury/reorganization
-fragmentation, touch brain
faceblindness
Mental operations can be linked to physical changes in brain
Pepole's decisions can be predicted by third parties using brain-imaging techniq
ues seconds before a person is consciously aware of making the decisoins
6-10 seconds aware of decision
drugs that affect brain chemistry affect many modes of thinking/feelingperceivin
g
The mind is what the brain does
The physical basis of
free will
Self
Qualia
Alien hand syndrome
Cotard's syndrome Walking corpse syndrome
-free will
The Cotard delusion or Cotard's syndrome or Walking corpse syndrome is a rare ne
uropsychiatric disorder in which people hold a delusional belief that they are d
ead (either figuratively or literally), do not exist, are putrefying, or have ls
ot their blood or internal organs. In rare instances, it can include dlusions of
immortality.
brain injury -self
Pain Symbolia
Pain asymbolia also called pain dissociation, is a condition in which pain is pe
rceived, but does not cause suffering. This usually results form injury to the b
rain. Typically, patients report that they have pain but are not bothered by it,
they recognize the sensation of pain but are mostly or completely imune to suff
ering from it.
-qualia
Minds and machines
deep blue, GPS
intelligence, creativity, intelligent behavior
computational theory of mind
replicate minds work
Dualism empty
Materialism half full
positive message
apples and people
wedge document
aristotle natural state where it wants to be
newton - gravity
einstein - curvature of space time
expalantion change not fact
humans can exp range of psychological states
evolve
Dualism - soul
scientist - brain
fact remains
ascribe to humans power they don't have
underwater breath
airplane
on immortality
make the most of life
scientific breakthroughs
download consciousness
A positive message
If the current scientific consensus is correct, you may have 'lost your soul' bu
t you certainly haven't lost your ability to think, to feel, to love, to tell ri
ght form wrong, and to be happy. Sunsets are still beautiful and love still feel
s wonderful whether or not you have a soul...
buckle up heaven can wait
The Brain and Our Emotional future
*Foundations of Emotions
feeling machines that think
mussolino
materialism
brain is in charge of behavior
William James principles of psycn (1890)
sit all day in a moping posture, sigh and reply to everything with a dismal voic
e, and your melancholy lingers...
if we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must...g
o through the outward movements of those contrary dispositions which we prefer t
o cultivate.
Carole King beautiful (1971)
Grandmothers
a whole bunch of serious scientists
Emotions are learned
External events
.real or imagined.
-learning of fears
wild-reared monkey shows fear of snake
lab-reared monkey shos no fear of snake
.emotional reactions based on experience
>classical conditioning
Pavlov
little Albert white rat generalization
> obsrvation
electrical thunderstorm
>biological preparedness
snakes, spiders
not really afraid of tall buildings, guns, vehicles
>mirror neurons
labreared monkey learns fear of snake by obsrving wild-reared monkey and snake
lab rearerd moneky does not learn fear when snake is not visible
Limbic System
external world via the five senses action fight or flight
Internal Milieu via the autonomic nervous system
brain monitor inner and outer world
emotion
know outside world and inside world
response movement
internal changes
body is energized -emergency sti.
anger and fear
*Theories of emotions
Cannon-Bard THeory
you see the snake
you feel scared
body aroused
you run
James-Lange Theory
you see the snake
Body aroused
THEN...you feel scared
You run
delay before u feel full emotional impact
Shacther and singer's two-factor theory
Cognitive Label + Physiological Arousal = emotion
S and S's Wasebasket Experiments
Stimulant Drug alone: no emotion
cognitive label for euphoria: no emotion
drug + lable = uephoria
stimulant drug alone: no emotion
cognitive label for anger: no emotion
drug + label = anger
Exression of emotions in man and animals charles darwin
evolution
-emotions linked accross species and time
Eckman
pictures emotional pan cultural
built in
muscles of face
exam anxiety
clinical psychologists
make a fist feel tension in arm
make it go limp relax
tension
relax
shoulder
forehead
jaw
recognize difference and bring up to higher levels of consciousness
act non-anxious
will ease anxiety
look at our body
limbic system
look at internal milleu
how bad it is
relax
give brain a different set of informaiotn
mirrors
feedback from face
emotional feedback from faces
actor in lab
moving face
pencil
What's the evidence?
muscle relaxation training
facial feedback
.contrived expressions
.pencil experiments teeth/lips teeth funnier
mirror neurons
*Mirror Neurons and Socially Shared emotions
deeply involved
sports
moive video games, dance, connect when we watch other people
new
either side of head
fundamental to how we see other people
italy
monkeys - neurons
grab for peanut
motor neuron
seeng and doing
humans learn by looking and copying
harness own abilities and project
dots
firing as if its you
UCLA
tie us to other ppls actions and feelings
sharing with others
Physical Survival
Our body's regulatory systems provide for stability of the internal milieu
.physical challenges arouse fear, anger or other negative emotions signaling a t
hreat to survival
.the body's physiology is reogranized to take care of busienss (flight or fight)
.we can do some of this via surrogates (watching others)
Psychological Survival
Belief systems provide the "rock" for stability of the internal milieu
.Challenges to those beliefs arouse fear, anger & other negative emotions
.buttressing those beliefs restors the internal milieu
."everything will be alright"
."you will not really die."
."when you die, that will be the first day of your eternal life with Christ t
he Savior."
.confirmation bias
Danger
the same physical systems are activated!
Feelings for Others
Antonio Damasio has investigated what he refers to as Social Emotions
Compassion (-) Envy (+)
Physical Lost a hand Dancer
Psychological Stroke Poet
how does the brain organize this?
By physical vs psychological; not Pos vs Neg
Overall Summary
The human brian has evolved in some very special ways:
.We have an amazingly long childhood (up to 30 yrs, experiential and emo experie
ntial) that permits individual experiences to play a critical role in brain deve
lopment
.Our somewhat modest endowments of ensory and motor systems are leveraged into s
uperiority via sophisticated brain systems; and
. we have an unparalleled ability to plan and adjust our future behavior - with
emotions attached.
We have a rich, evidence-based understanding of our behavior that can lead us to
plan to be 'better' or 'more successfl' or 'more secure' people.
The Lion and the gazelle
let's compare predation!
the scent
stealthy approach
probably not a lot of forethought
mostly instinctual attack
it's all about the moment
early humans and the gazelle + emotional planning
our "Moments" almost always take us into a planned future!
complex emotional future
*The Biology of Thou SHalt Not
Introduction to Behavioral Inhibitions
"I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart ma
ny times. This is something that God recognizes I will do--and I have done it--a
nd God forgives me for it."
Pres. Jimmy Carter nov 1976 interview Playboy Magazine
brain mechanisms of thoughts
Rules for Good Behavior
Rules for not engaging in bad behavior
Who's watching (Dennett's challenge)
Mom?
God?
Why do we care?
Are we naturally prepared to NOT do things?
7/10 thou shall not
little children
Mr. Rogers
what goes inside your head stays inside your head
-can read to some extent
Dennet- behavior we do in privacy
masturbation
do in front of God what they won't do in front of Mom
why do we care what others think?
are we naturally prepared to not do things?
Behavioral inhibition
Formal definition: Withholding a response when behavior is either punished or no
longer rewarded.
Pavlov was first to see inhibition as a basic element of behavior
L R
position habit reversal
pavlov
evaluation of neutral based on eomtion
associated to something else
nerve cells plus and minus
car
opposing systems
organisms and nerv systems operate
immediate punishment, unruly horse
rat poison
rat maze left and right
stop food or switch to other side
if u learned to do something and no longer rewared/punished
still have urge power motivation to do it
hundred yard dash, swimming
competing behavior
gogogo waitwaitwait
quiet
sneeze taken away inhibition response
lab
is this related to soul beliefs/
Is behavioral inhibition really important?
suppose we can make the case, based on solid scientific evidence, that brain mec
hanisms of behavioral inhibition:
.are among the most recent and most sophisticated brian systems to develop
.mediate the defining features of mature, socially acceptable behaior
.lie at the core of emotional intelligence
.provide the filter thorugh which we separate 'right' from 'wrong'?
*Laboratory Basic Reseach and the Emergence of Inhibition in Humans
Princeton University
Campbell et al
baby rats
Active Avoidance YES YES
passive avoidance NO YES
differences in cognitive development
Rutgers
Carlton et al
Acetylcholine (Ach) is the chemical transmitter
adult rats
drugs no difference
blocked ach - yes cant do passive avoidance
Univ of chicago
mccleary et al
measures of behavioral inhibition
doesnt' overlap
damage limbic system
unable to withold respons that is punished or not rewarded
When What Where - Convergence of Evidence
baby mobile
remembers mobile
learns from environment
protect them 24 hrs
good reflexes visoin hearing language
child to old - car
very quickly develop skills that allows us to do all sorts of complicated things
slow to learn how to withold responses that are either punished,nonrewarded/migh
t be
behavioral inhibition
30 years plateau, 30 years wisdom
really carefully systematically analyze complex future events and behave accord
ingly
Convergence of psychological science
Disinhibition-bad behavior
Frontal lobe damage phineas p gage,
extension of limbic system
.impulsive
.childish
.don't care about others
.poor planning-traveling self is seemingly on vacation
not good at not doing things
alcohol
depressant, inhibitory
frontal lobes
lose ability to look forward, think rationally, not do certain things
psychopathy
mostly men
how would you feel if other people done this to you? cant understand
Alter inhibitory behavior
brain injury
drug
genetic/other anomaly
children-developing brains
impulsive, childish, don't care about others missing part of brain that Phineas
Gage is missing
behavioral systems develop, inhibition one of latest
brain and not devil
For the first time in history, humans have observable, lawful, physical origins
for our mental events - why we do things and why we don't.
Brain science, Evolution, Laws of Learning
laws of learning
Mentions of brain in holy books:
heart hands feet loins no brain
last 100 years at most when we have ability to analyze behavior
Behavioral Inhibition is Important
There is a convergence of solid scientific evidence, that the brain mechanisms o
f behavioral inhibition:
.are among the latest and most sophisticated brain systems to develop (frontal l
obe extensions of the limbic system);
.mediate the central features of mature behavior (impulse control, empathy);
.lie at the core of emotional intelligence;
.provide the filter through which we separate 'right' from 'wrong'/
Dark Thoughts
Recall prof. solomon's reference to kierkegaard, who opined that humans had beco
me so smart that they became aware of their own existence and viewed that knowle
dge with Awe and Dread.
This conscious awareness gives us the ability to think aboutand 'plan' bad thing
s whenever we want. we may never intend to carry them out - but who knows who mi
ght be watching?
mom? god? our tribe? our self?
maybe its just laws of behavior?
physical, psychological, think about thou shall not - emotions
thoughts in head are impt part of life
Johnny 99
Bruce Springsteen
Judicial system based on thoughts in our head
what was going on in person's head when he did that
guilty-seen favorably, or done with good reason
not - physical evidence
children don't respond well to punishment, not enough brain to do that
catch them being good
*Soul Beliefs
Evolutionary Psychology and the soul
Azi Grysman, PhD
-cognitive psychology, memory
Charles Darwin - difficulty brain
cant be left out of evolution
acceptance in general public
17 yrs
evolution part of behavior
Evolution and its relevance to psychology
.what we know about evolution:
-behaviors that benefit our survival are more likely to appear in future generat
ions
.how we approach evolution:
.imagine the trime frame in which evolution occurred, use what we know about the
species' development, and formulate hypotheses about how the trait developed
e.g.peppered moths in England
.imagine human beings in the environment of evolutionary adaptedness - 10 millio
n to 10,000 yrs ago
.pre agriculture, egalitarian societies, hunting, gathering
.what's our most impt tool for survival? our speed?strength?
.our brains
.why?
importance of social living
compensate
teamwork
certain mental capacities - evolutionary pressure
why is childhood so much longer for human sthan other species?
Large brains are really important to humans (good in interacting w environment,
negotiating social situations-selective)
head needs to fit through mother's pelvis
mother needs to walk upright, keeping the pelvis a certain size
more brain development occurs after birth
childhood-very different from most ohter species
cosmides and tooby's 5 principles
principle 1. the brain is a physical system. it functions as a computer (metapho
r!). its circuits are designed to generate behavior that is appropriate to your
environmental circumstances
principle 2. our neural circuits were 'designed' by natural selection to solve p
roblems that our ancestors faced during our species' evolutionary history
color vision - fruit,leaves
principle 3.consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg; most of what goes ion
in your mind is hidden from you.
principle 4. different neural circuits are specialized for solving diff adaptive
problems
feels like stream of consciousness,
princ 5. our modern skulls house a stone age mind
reasoning and evolutionary psych
there are 4 cards. each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other
rule: if a card has a vowel on one side then it must have an even number on the
other
which cards do you turn over to be sure that the rule is being followed?
A B 10 5
/ X X
always if consonant,
irrelevant irrelevant
you work as waiter in bar
if a person is drinking beer, that person must be at least 21
which cards do you turn over to be sure that the rule is being followed?
Budweiser age:24 coke age:17
/ x x yes
same logical structure
.Wason selectoin task demonstrates evolutionary psych principles:
2 problems are logically identical
we perform much better at the second because it uses the cheater detection syste
m
humans - not good at logic, math
but learn in training
.cheater detection is a specialized system 'designed' to solve adaptive problems
of living in social groups
survives if people pulls their share
division of labor
punish cheaters
-compare to vampire bats
-remember who gave blood and didn't
systems in our society when somebody cheats strong desire to get them back and n
ot let them benefit from it
how it all ends?
.wason selection task demonstrates evolutionary psych principles:
2 problems are logically identical
we perform much better at the second because it uses the cheater detection syste
m
cheater detection is a specialized system designed to solve adaptive problems of
living in social groups
-compare to vampire bats
we don't conscoiusly realize that we are thinking about the 2 problems different
ly
more ev psych exampels
extends work of fodor (1983) most of mind is small, specialized modules - compar
tments that feed info to the central executive area of the brain
which line is longer
concious decision making system
even when it's override doesn't change
can't ignore
color
specialized system
send final conclusion
.If we want a psychology of religion/soul taht's meaningful we have to better un
derstand what the mind is doing in the day-to day
consider categorization, a process of cognition
We make assumptions based on category membership
-experiences, teaching
animate - wanted to
inaminate - force acting on it
pascal blaise
automatic assumptions
templates at work
lets say i encounter a new item i had never heard of before:
zygoons are the only predators of hyenas
what can you tell me about zygoons?
none of you has ever heard of the word zygoon, but at this stage you have an ima
ge of an Animal, and thus to you zygoons...
-grow and die
-need food for survival
-gives birth to ther zygoons
-eat hyenas
templates automatic to function in world of unknowns
Inference System
Sentence
Zygoons eat hyenas -> Porperties beinga cornivore
inference: zygoon is an animal
what happens when you assume
u make an ass out of u and me
process info more quickly
reduce cognitive load
less calories
make decisions faster
heuristics -
valued even wrong 5-10% of the time
This style of categorization provides the ability to make basic assumptions abou
t things and not have to think about them - it's highly efficient
What is going on when I read about a zygoon?
Inferences
information we intuit wihtout being told - e.g. we assumed that a zygoon is an a
nimal
Default inferences
i assume that since it is an animal, it will maintain properties of other animal
s (gives birth to its own kind, grows and dies, etc.) unless i encounter any inf
o to the contrary
note that these are expectations. we're not tied to them, but we do find them re
asonably likely, and we'll be surpised if they are not upheld.
we have categories for things we usually come in to contact with
we make automatic assumptions using these categories
our automatic assumptions relate to evolutionary needs
.eg.we don't have a category for all animals that are brown, because color is no
t useful info in most scenarios
but we do know which animals are carnivors and which are herbivores
volunteer?
video Hyder and Simmon
narrate
40's
agency-ability to act on one's own
self-driven beings
Agency
video
http;//www.youtube.com/watch?v=76p64j3H1Ng
Inferences in video - what's causing them/
a dexcription of the source of mvmt -> an agent is something that moves on its o
wn
fundamental distinction made early in life between things that move on their own
and things that don't
If a ball rolls behind two screens in this demonstration, the child age 2 is sur
prised if he doesn't see it pass between the screens.
don't get the same reaction if a person does this
adults are magical creatures
unpredictable
agency
we need to know what other people are gonna do
internal motivation
something inside of me is pushing me to make decisions
.Agency is a very important factor in the evolutionary environment, but it's som
ething we cannot see
-therefore describing the source of agency grabs attention
.concept of a meme (Dawkings, pre-God bashing phase)
-idea or tendency that is found independently in many cultures because of its us
efulness
not a historical hypothesis
.aim for the soul is to understand it on as conceptual level - what part of our
concepts are important in forming the concept of soul?
agency-soul
some hypothesized properties of the soul
immaterial
animacy/center of agency - thing that makes us alive
center of morality - immoral damaged soul
essence of a living being/identity
indivisibility
can't see
don't know where it is but describes person
Assumptions of PERSON
Sandra rolled down the hill, because she wanted to get to the bottom
Sandra = Person
Rolled down the hill because she watned to get to the bottom
has Agency
Belief-Desire Psychology
is subject to the laws of physics
rock rolled down the hill because it wants to go to the bottom
agency X bdp X is subject..yes
absurd
Sandra's soul rolled down the hill bc. it wanted to get to the bottom
agency maybe b-dp maybe is subject... x
absurd
animacy/center of agency
a horse has a soul than a plant
absurd 5
very
reasonable 1
A horse has a mind 1.75 a soul 3.00
shrub has a mind 4.90 soul 4.51
center of morality
unreasonable 4
reasonable 0
A person's soul can be disgusted by Hitler 2.5
a person's soul can be disgusted by roadkill 3.5
moral disgust
physical symptoms of disgust
Conclusions
influenced by factors of agency
goals and trials and tribulations
CONClUSIONS
evolutionary context influences our thinking
modern,explicit, conscious ideas, may have their roots in evolutionary problems
or modes of thinking
the concept of the soul is one such idea
Religious and cultural concepts build on challenges of our environment:
.describes agency
.identifying moral behavior
.keeping track of a person's essence
we might want to consider people's concept of soul as a way of taking an unconsc
ious inference and putting it into words
what does this mean about how the concept of 'soul' came to be?
Cognitive approach to religion attempts to understand and describe the mental pr
ocesses involved in thinking about religious concepts
Doctrinal vs. intuitive beliefs
.eg. at Ru approx 60% believers, 30%agnotiscs 10% atheists
over 95 percent believe in soul
suggests the soul is something bey different than religion, reflects different b
elief systems - don
soul-useful
module - finetuning of what's already there,
there are things we're ready to believe
easy to believe bec. the way mind is structured
fits our framework
brain ready to take certain learned concepts
defense module
intuitive ability to accept beliefs and reject beliefs
more simpler
ability to argue not to come to conclusions but prove it right
argue any point
soul that goes somewhere
assumption ->fact
how is it adapatable soul goes to where
episodic memory
-memory of events
autobiographical
memory guides future
memories exist for planning future behaviors
religions usurp, power control
take a peek at automaticity
may think about it differently
evidence to the contrary seem nonesensical
Dreaded States and Desired outcomes: A case for the Undesired-Self
Indices of Psychological Survival
Ideal Self and Its Various relatives
sigmund freud's push from the past, "ego-ideal"
alfred adler's pull of the future, 'fictional finalism"
throw further ideal self
new goals
abraham Maslow's and Carl Roger's Self actualization
achieving
from Man of Lamancha
Carl Rogers' method for measuring real/ideal-self discrepancies
Cue Sort (100 cards with wrods like 'friendly, disciplined lonely ambitious outg
oing reserved gregarious content etc written on them)
bell curve
real self
ideal self
Ideal self sort
participant sorts the cards into a normal distribution plaicng most like my idea
l self cards at one end of the distribution and least like my ideal self cards a
t the other end of the distribution
a real/ideal-self discrepancy score that is in the range of 1.00 to -1.00. A hig
h positive correlation means that hte real self is close to the ideal self. lowe
r correlations indicate higher discrepancy scores.
rogers demonstrated the utility of this measure in therapy outcome research and
self-dicrepancy research entered into its golden days. many researchers climbed
onto the band wagon and published hundreds of studies containing discrepancy sco
res.
we evaluate ourelf in different dimensions
orthagonal
desired self
undesired self
Enter the Undesired Self
.the undesired self pops to mind on a cold and rainy November day
conducted a study showing that real/undesired discrepancies were more related to
Life Satisfaction ratings than real/ideal discrepancy scores
Quote from Milan Kundura's the Unbearable Lightness of Being: "The goals we purs
ue are always veiled. A girl who longs to be married longs for something she kno
ws nothing about. The boy who hankers for fame has not idea what fame is. The th
ing that gives our every move its meaning, is always unknown to us.'
Might we then not ask how much credibility can be given to a number that represe
nts the distance between and an individual and a phantom, the distance between o
ne's now self and a self largely based on guess work?
With good evidence, I argud that th ideal self tends to be abstract and the unde
sired self is more derived from experience.
Ogilvie pays a visit to Charlie Rose
5 minutes, increase of number o studies containing real/ideal-self discrepancy s
cores
E. tory Higgins' Self Discrepancy Theory
Retains the ideal self and introduces another self called the ought self.
superego -parent/god self
distance bwn real and ideal self covaries bwn happines and sadness
.ideal discrepancies predict depression 9eg sadness), also called dysphoria
.ought discrepancies predict anxiety (also called agitation)
This theory was a big hit. led to the publication of many studies
Higgin's selves Questionnaire - synonym/antonym comparisions:
ideal Self Real Self Ought Self
Best Scale
Close to being my best/wosts Far from being my wrost
A few results
The 2 dimensions are (sometimes) independent as shown by low correlation coeffic
iants
Distance from Worst (undesired self) is more related to both anxiety and sadness
than is the distance from either Best (ideal self) or Ought self using higgin's
measures.
While both males and females use the undesired self as a standard for self-evalu
ation, females do so in a more pronounced manner
results from interviews asking people to describe what being at their worst was
like:
females describe being at their worst
.in interpersonal contexts
. when unhappy about appearance
.during times of transition
males
.context of concerns about their identities
males more difficult tims describing themselves at worst
in general
from teenage years and beyond, people tend to describe their Ideal Selves in ter
ms of desirable roles
'worsts' tend to come about when roles don't work out, are not available, or col
lapse
The field of psychology was not ready to hear about the undesired self. so I too
k turned my attention to Terror Management Theory, and with Florette Cohen, cond
ucted the folowing study
sheldon solomon
expereimental manipulations - 2 independent variables
2003-2004 bush
death Salience instruction: pls desribe the emotions that the thought of your ow
n death arouses in you.
Exam salience Instruction; ...exam.. 9control condition)
Dependent Bariable
Support the President Survey
It is essential that our citizens band together and support the Pres. of the US
in his efforts to secure our great nation against the dangers of terrorism. Pers
onally I endorse the actions of Pres Bush and the members of his admin who haave
taken bold action in Iraq...Mr. Bush has been a source of great inspiration to
us all. God bless him and God bless America
Exam Salience 1.9
Death Salience 4.0
it's great to be alive
death
back to becker's theory (denial of death)
becker obsrved that:
humans are capable of being aware that they will die
people don't like that. it freaks us out.
we create buffers against constantly being aware of death.
these buffers include:
self esteem
close interpersonal connections
religions (god will take care of you)
becoming cnnected with the social structure by occupying valued roles
new question;
could the ideal self be another social construction that, in part, serves the pu
rpose of diverting us from ruminating about our death? in other words, might not
the ideal self serve as a buffer against death aniety? perhaps asking people to
think about being at their worst might temporarily disable the ideal self buffe
r and make death thougths more accessible.
consider the possibility that the Ideal Self is one of our buffers against death
anxiety. We know that most people think about their ideal selves in terms of ro
les.
what might happen if the ideal self is temporarily removed from consciousness by
asking people to dwell on their Undesidred (me at my worst) self? we predicted
that thinking about being at one's worst would make thoughts about death more ac
cessible.
Death Accssibility Measure
BUR_D
PLA_
_OK
WAT_
DE_
MU_
_NG
B_T_LE
M_J_R
P_TURE
FL_W_R
GRA_
K_GS
CHA_
KI_ED
CL_K
TAB_
WI_DOW
SK_L
TR_
P_P_R
COFF_
_O_SE
POST_
R_DI_
Q: Are death thoughts more accessible to people who are asked to think about the
mselves at their worst than to people who are asked to think about being at thei
r best?
YES
Fig 2 Mean Accessibility of Implicit Death Thoughts by condition
exam salient .6
mortality salient .95
best self salient .58
worst self salient .97
Next piece of the puzzle
Since asking people to think about being at their worst arouses death associatio
ns, according to Terror Management Theory those associations must be shut down.
We wondered if being assigned to a Me at My worst condition would be equivalent
to being assigned to a Mortality Salience Condition
4 conditions (4 independent variables)
1. exam salience (write about what it like for you when you take an exam)
2. death salience (write about what it will be like for you when you are dying)
3. at best salience (write about what it is like for you when you are at your be
st)
4. at worst salience (write about what it is like for you when youare at your wo
rst)
dependent variable
support the president survey
fig 1 mean attitudes toward pres. bush by condition
exam salient 2.3
mortality 3.5
best self 2.39
worst self 3.1
freminder:
the information contained in this lecture is repeated in the paper titled The un
desired self: death connotations
question
our culture, like all cultures, provides buffers against constantly ruminating a
bout death; avenues for us to perceive ourselves as persons of value in a world
of meaning. one way to keep thoughts of death from consciousness is to pursue an
d occupy valued roles. however, if a person chooses not to do that, what are the
prospects for psychological survival?
assuming that self-esteem is a primary buffer against death anxiety, there are m
ultiple ways to build up self-esteem
.be good at something
.help other people
.find a problem and solve it, or locate a need and fill it
.became aware of the pitfualls of symbolic immortality
Do you really have to get all A's?
Is it essential that you fulfill your parent's dreams/
is it really impt that everyone likes u?
Should on'es sense of self-worth really depend on the size of a person's
bank account
Do whatever is necessary to fully realize that death is inevitable, get over it,
break through the bubble of denying reality, and find ways to be of genuine ser
vice to the world.
How it all Ends
The evolution of the human brain
intro
why is thought being a secretion of the brain, more wonderful than gravity a pro
perty of matter? it is our arrogance, our admiraiton of ourselves - charles darw
in
need for nonphysical element
dennett's creed
breaking the spell
"If you can approach the world's complexities, both its glories and its horrors,
with an attitud of humble curiosity, acknowledging that however deeply you have
seen, you have only just sctatched the surface, you will find worlds within wor
lds, beauties you could not heretofore imagine, and you r own mundane preoccupat
ions whill shrink to proper size... for if you can stay centered, and engaged, y
ou will find the hard choices easier, the right words will come to you when you
need them, and you will indeed be a better person. that, i propose, is the secre
t to spirituality, and it has nothing at all to do with believing in an immortal
soul, or in anything supernatural."
topics:
prof. solomon talked about the mediocrity of our sensory systems; we will see ho
w human evolution has leveraged these into complex analytical systems.
brain-centered experience
prof. ogilvie talked about the progressive emergence of more and more complicate
d "Selfs"; we will see that human evolution has provided the time required for t
his.
prof. ogilvie taled about he power of cuteness; we will see that as a theme of h
uman evolution
adaptations
muskrat -
squirrel
mallard
woodpecker
egret
woodchuck
brain
part that controlled behavior of physical adaptation
building a brain
psychology will be securely based on the necessary acquirement of each mental po
wer and capacity by gradiation. - charles darwin
..the main neuronal circuits achieve an architecture that is breathtaking in its
complexity, but frugal in its variability
-jacobson & hunt (1965)
Building the basic human brain
genetic blueprint
competition
first come/first served
porgrammed cell death
end up with detailed structure/function
breathtaking in its complexity
frugal in its variability
embryo - develops brain
What is special about the human brain?
million new neurons every minute 9 months
long fibers
competition
cell dies without connection
programmed cell death
about half
michaelangelo - david sculpture
story
500,000,000,000
neurons
as many as thousand interconnections
Carl Sagan
MacLean's Triune Brain
reptilian
paleomammalian
neomammalian
Darwin's Two simple Rules
natural variability
natural selection
wrinkled
communicate with up and down layer
bedsheet
A Greandeur in this view of life
such as grand orchestration of dev't could not have occurred by accident! well,
actually, it sort of did!!
teleological
not the end product
process
plasticity
-visual
Not ust bigger, faster, sharper
Real differences are in process and plasticity
Some examples from the visual system
Moth
frog
what the frog's eye tells the frog brain
horizon detector
dimming detector
see small dark object, flip tongue
chick's maturation of pecking
chic with displacement goggls (Hess)
-doesn't have capability to make correction
goggles upside down
inverted vision
plastic-adapt to world of changes
Evolution has pushed preceptual processing & plasticity into the brain
Is Human Childhood Special? Yes!
milton: The childhood shows the man as morning shows the day."
Poppe: "'Tis education forms the common mind.Just as the twig is bent, the tree'
s inclinde."
Wordsworth: "the child is the father of the man."
Three evolutionary advances
longer lifespan
neoteny
very long childhood
lifespan
life expectancy = 70, 50 constitution, 20-30
life span constant - up to 100 yrs
Mammals live for about 800 million heartbeats
gerbil 3 yrs
cat 10 yrs
elephatn 75 yrs
whale 200 yrs
humans should be 22 yrs
If i had know i was going to live so long i would have taken better care of myse
lf eubie blake 100 yrs
Yearlings
Neoteny: Progressive maintenance of child-like (cute) feautures into cadulthood
round head
big eyes
receding chin
lost cuteness in adulthood
Even in the most chalenging cases, adult humans remain cuter than our close prim
ate relatives. (Well, we think so!)
-math
more nurturing, helpful, nice to cute creatures
social - doesn't always work
maim and kill
language - romantic
baby
brain bulk processing info
unknown reason - long lifespan
childhood up to 30 yrs
all the time to put personal stamp on brain
changes molds and adapts detailed circuitry on brain
ontogeny
own individual life
turn back time
have everything same at that time
different brain
animals off the brain
The Human Spark
Introduction to Our Ancestors
"What a piece of work is man. How noble in reason. How infinite in faculty. In f
orm and moving how express and admirable. In action how like an angel. In appreh
ension how like a god. The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals.
lose magic
Denialists claim:
probably just disfigured modern humans who died
too many gaps in the record
can't really know the age
accidentally relocated to dig sites
but the rich and ever-growing details of our natural heritage trace the story of
modern humans' finest features
see snapshot
the 'unsuccessful' neanderthals
lived in small clusters for over 200 thousand years (!)
made simple stone axes that remained unchanged
no engravings in caves
had a short (~6 year) childhood
skull grew more in facial region than in brain case
h.sapiens 40,000 yrs
Europe -neanderthals
Harold Dibble Univ or Pennyslvania
repeat patterns
no clear evolution of traits
adept at adapting
Shannon McPherron Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
flexible but not adaptable
basically same toolkit
bonre o antler hammer
2000 generations
human spark
svante paabo max plank...
unique behavior
adrian briggs
dna
small difference
michael richards
no plant foods
no fish
tanya smith
neanderthals less time to learn about the world/ rebel perhaps against elders be
fore thrust into adulthood
10-20k
500 little groups in europe
Emergence of human behavior
May have begun behaving like modern humans 300k years ago -long before looking l
ike modern humans
behavior has powerful influences on reproductive success
modern human mind emerged in Africa (100-150k yrs ago) and set the stage for dis
placing Neanderthals
multi part spears & spear throwers
social hunting of big animals (language/planning/cooperation)
paintings, engravings, jewelry
15-30k yrs ago
important symbols
can ID who will cooperate!
imagine solutions to problems
humans
plants fish fowl
spear
language
not necessary - pleasing, pait
jewelry - teeth of corpses, seashells, soapstone fake teeth and fake seashells
language areas of brain
left hempisphere
production ... broca's area
comprehension ... wernicke's area
connection ... arcuate fasciculus
actin words ... near motor area
object words... near visual area
huge areas of modern human brain are dedicated to language
right hemisphere language area
inflection
production
comprehension
gestures
.production
.comprehension
The Power of Language
Language provided leverage:
.cooperation
.identification (over 7,000 languages!)
.in combination with larger villages/cities led to flash-like spreading of ideas
and inventions)
.shared ideas formed larger cultural units
-Jung's Collective Unconscious: Commonality of brain/sensory/motor organization
gives shared view of world around us
-Durkheim's Collective Consciousness: Shared knowledge of the world around us.
The Languaged Self
Follow me down this garden path for awhile to think about language:
.provides more complex personal thinking about one's self (selves)
.allows discussion of shared feelings (loves, fears, etc.)
.allows discussion of shared beliefs
Our brains love stored regularities - things like average faces, predictable beh
avior, shared beliefs. and language makes it easy!
Shared Beliefs and Abiding Souls
Spreading of Shared Beliefs
Perhaps our most salient shared beliefs, religions, have expanded to fill within
geographic and political borders.
The Ontogeny of Ensoulment
Brief recap:
.Pythagoras (6th Century BCE) reasoned that nonphysical souls (unlike bodies) co
uld occupy same space
.Bloom argues that we are "natural dualists"
Our Dualistic Theories:
.Theory of Body (we don't talk much about it; occurs at a very early age)
.Theory of Mind (gradually develops; probably over several years)
.We are comfortable with our interpretations of the thoughts and actions of othe
rs
The abiding souls of others
when a loved (or hated) one dies:
.the body is whisked away in some manner (Dennett's "corpse problem")
.the soul (spirit, mind, essence) abides in the minds of others (this we know -
"he will never be forgotten")
.we even have our own Judgment Days
-She was a great humanitarian.
-He was the scourge of the eearth
.we create revisionist histories
-turns out all of that 'niceness' was superficial
-he acted like he was being helpful
.we project them into the future
-what would Lincoln do?
-What would Jesus do?
With the power of language, the thought of others (living and dead) become inter
twined with our thoughts for as long as we remember. And use them to guide/plan
our future.
Dan Gilbert: "If nature has given us a greater gift it has not been named."
How I got that quoate. The influence abides across genarations. Nearly immortal
The Scopes Trial:
Human Origins and the Public Classroom
Setting the Stage for the Trial
social cultural political consequences
personal consequences
The Scopes Trial:/monkey trial/trial of the century
tenessee courthouse
Here, from July 10 to 21, 1925, John Thomas Scopes, a county high school teacher
, was tried for teaching that man descended from a lower order of animals, in vi
olation of a lately passed state law. William Jennings Bryan assisted the prosec
ution: Clarence Darrow, Arthur Garfield Hays and Dudley Field Malon the defense.
Scopes was convicted
Summer for the Gods the scopes trial and america's continuing debate over scienc
e and religion Edward Larson
Social Context -1925
tenessee enrollemnts
1910 10k
1925 50k expectations have changed
new facts
Legal Context - Taxpayers Rule
Antievolution Laws began to appear, mostly in southern states, supported y belie
fs that:
there was no scientific proof of evolution;
theory of evolution eroded fundamental faith
majority rule for taxpayers to determine what was taught in schools
Billy Sunday
crusades
majoritarianism
cong. butler
"That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals a
nd all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part
by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the st
ory of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the BIble, and to teach instead t
hat man has descended from a lower order of animals.
BUtler Act (Tenn.HB 185, 1925)
misdemeanor 500 dollars 100 dollars
just after WWI
Woodrow Wilson firm hand of stern repression
1919
Civil Liberties - "Firm Hand of Stern Repression"
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
.President Wilson's declaration of war with 'protection' from dissent; Later rou
nd up of 'radicals' in 1919
.antievolution laws violated freedom of speech
.Vanderbilt University (1878) fired Prof. Winchell for teaching that humans prec
eded Biblical Adam
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
.Lafayette College (1913) fired Prof. Mecklin for teaching that social evolution
(rather than revealed truth) shaped religion
.University of Tennessee (1915) fired several professors who happened to be symp
athetic to evolution
American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS)
.Psychologist James McKeen Cattell (Pres & co-owner)
Offered to provided scientific experts
concerns abt religions and poss. challenges to religion
freedom "
The Eolution of a Trial
ACLU offer in Chattanooga times:
We are looking for a Tennessee teacher who is willing to accept our services in
testing this law in the courts.
our lawyers think a friendly test case can be arranged without costing the teach
er his or her job.
Distinguished counsel have volunteered their services. All we need now is a will
ing client.
Setting the Stage:
.Newspaper ad
.City slicker (George Rappleyea)
.Meeting at Robinson's Drugstore
.High school football coach (John Scopes)
.Dayton City Attorny (Sue Hicks0
From so simple a beginning
legal climate, social context, majority rule
ACLU's SImple test
Dayton's publicity stunt
Clarence Darrow
brilliant defense lawyer
agnostic
great orator
Leopold and Lobe
William Jennings Bryan
Presidential candidate
Devout Christian
Great orator
Prayers
Court - the court will come to order. The Rev. Cartwright wil lopen court with p
rayer....['interminable']
picnics
privies
Inside the Trial - Tooth and Claw
Clarence Darrow
Brilliant opening speech
Masterful cross-examination
William Jennings Bryan
Brilliant opening speech
Masterful cross-examination
Clarence Darrow
Statute is vague
Bible is wrong
Protect our freedom
William Jennings Bryan
Majoritarianism
Bible is everything
Protect our culture
non-overlapping magisteria
The Trial Endgame
Bryan argued that scientific experts were not relevant:
"These people want to come here with experts to make Your Honor believe that the
law should never have been passed and because in their opinion it ought not to
have been passed, it ought not to be enforced."
Darrow's response led to contempt of court charge:
Experts did not appear, but submitted statements
Darrow apologized
Judge accepted apology
I am sure that if he had had time to have thought and deliberated he would not h
ave spoken those words... we forgive him and we forget it and we commend him to
go back home and learn in his heart the words of the Man who said: "If you thirs
t come unto Me and I will give thee life." (Applause)
jury did not hear record
expert on Bible
2 hour grilling on Bible
Darraw call Bryan to stand as expert Biblical witness!
Grilled for more than 2 hours on literal interpretations:
Was Jonah really swallowed by big fish? Or a whale?
Any independent evidence for the great flood?
Do you really believe that there were no human civilizations more than 5,000 yea
rs ago?
Have you ever looked at other religions?
Was everything created in six 24-hour days?
Where did Cain get his wife?
Did Joshua really stop the sun? Shouldn't it have been the earth?
Etc.
-> not to be taken literally
Darrow asked for a guilty verdict:
"Let me suggest this. We have...no proof to offer on the issues that the court h
as laid down here, that Mr. Scopes did teach what the children saiod he taught..
.I thik to save time we will sk the court to bring in the jury and instruct he j
ury to find the defendant guilty. we make no objction to that and it will save a
lot of time and I think that should be done."
Jury could not get through crowd, so reached Guilty verdict in hallway.
Judge Raulston set fine at $100
Darrow: "I think this case will be remembered because it is the first case of th
is sort since we stopped trying people in America for witchcraft because here we
have done our best to turn back the tide that has sought to force itself upon t
his - upon this modern world, of testing every fact in science by a religious di
ctum. That is all I care to say."
William Jennings Bryian died during an afternoon nap five days later!
protecting religion and freedom
Tennessee Supreme Court set aside guilty verdict because the jury was supposed t
o set fine!
no legal result
still standing
Tying up the Loose Ends
After the Trial of the Century:
US Supreme Court upheld most of the ACLU views
Most universities adopted the AAUP guidelines
National policies of the 1950s
.national defense education act funded science education
.national science foundation funded state-of-the-art science textbooks
.biological sciences curriculum study developed high school biology texts that s
tressed evolutionary concepts
Arkansas antievolution law struck down by US Supreme Court (1968)
Antievolution laws seemed almost un-American!
But...
sputnik
Dissent with modification
Creationists proved to be agile adversaries of science:
In 1970s, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana each passed laws for equal coverage
of cretionism and evolution (all three struck down in separate lawsuits)
In 1995, Tennessee introduced a law to perfmit firing of teachers who taught evo
lution as factual rather than theoretical (narrowly defeated under intense publi
c pressure)
Senator Rubio (R-FL), a possible contender in the 2016 Republican presidential r
ace, (Earth=5k?) gave the following answer: "I'm not a scientist, man. I can tel
l you waht recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I thin
k that's a dispute amongst theologians." (GQ, November 2012)
Antievolution Congressman Paul Broun (R-Ga.) ran unopposed in 2012 election, but
nearly 4,000 voters wrote in Charles Darwin to protest their representative's v
iews (Broun called evolution "lies straight from the pit of hell.")
A new Tennessee law protects teachers who explore the "scientific strengths and
scientific weaknesses" of evolution and climate change, a move science education
advocates say could make it easier for creationism and global warming denial to
enter U.S> classrooms (April 2012)
A pro evolution Dr. Pepper ad rubs super serious Facebook fans the wrong way.
Dover PA School Board (2005) required oral disclaimer of evolution plus an Intel
ligent Design "textbook" (struck down by Judge John Jones III, a conservative U.
S. District Judge appointed by President George W. Bush)
Where Do We Go From Here?
Beliefs Conflicts and Evidence-Based Decision Making
Science vs. Religoin: Is It Really Necessary?
The Cursed Inexplicables
The human brain boggles when it can't explain something! Explanations soothe the
mind.
The explanations don't necessarily have to be true
.Science
.Religion
.Pseudoscience
.Pseudoreligion
Entrenched explanations grow stronger
.Things learned early
.Things repeated often
It's upsetting to hav the explanations challenged
keep strengthen protect
Holy FIre: One Malady; Two Cures
Then
Sufferers of the Holy Fire
Symptoms
Painful blackened limbs
Causes Sin
Cure atonement (St. Anthony)
Now:
SYmptoms Rare
Causes ergot fungus -rye/related brain
Cure
prevent fungus
treat with drugs
Life in the Good (Very) Old Days
For thousands and thousands of years, humans of all descriptions
made love
made music
hunted
gathered
did of diseases
made tools
created villages
hated
waged war
raised families
told stories
wrote our holy books
prayed to countless gods
and knew almost nothinga bout the way things really worked!
then Big ideas started roling in about 500 yrs ago
math physics
testing
observing
biology
reading
writing
measuring
the grand, frustrating, and exhilirating search for evidence-based knowledge!
Some Absolutely Indisputable FACTS
There is no difference in the strength of evidence. you cannot be educated and p
ick and choose from these:
The sun is the center of our universe and the earth rotates around it.
The earth is round and VERY old.
our universe (from atoms to galaxies)follows the laws of physics.
Species are temporary (over the long haul) and constantly evolving. Including hu
mans!
DNA provides the written record of creatures present and past (and future).
Blood circulates through the body to deliver nutrients and oxygen.
The mind is what the brain does.
no pick and choose and discard
but can have room
Holy BOoks Are Not Science Books
Clarence Darrow got it right:
"The Bible is made up of sixty-six books written over a period of about one thou
sand years, some of them very early and some of them comparatively late. It is a
book primarily of religion and morals. It is not a book of science. Never was a
nd was never meant to be."
The eyes of the scribes were shielded from the factual knowledge of the future
Human have an everlasting soul -
The soul weighs 27 grams
Science vs. Religions: one vs. many

maybe these are the real non-overlapping magisteria - differences between variou
s religions
maybe it's ust a healthy debate?
country science religiosity
france 497 11
Czech Republic 493 11
Japan 529 12
Germany 513 21
Korea 546 25
Slovakia 497 29
Canada 527 30
Britain 492 33
Poland 495 36
US 487 59
-0.32472
Science: program for international student assessment (pisa)
religiosity: pew dec 2002
Let's Talk!
What if it were possible for
.Science and religion to show mutual respect for their very different goals? (no
n-interfering magisteria??)
.different religions to stop being willing to kill for differences in beliefs?
prayers affect other negatively
how we learn about souls and afterlife
ever imagine what it would like to be dead?
this is what i imagined: (oglivie)
coffin smelled musty
i was shivering
i felt lonely
i wondered... until when to wait until other family members reunited
In other words, some of my psychological processes remianed pretty much intact.
But alas and alack, God and I decided that Heaven was not for me.
"I don't want to be a thing that dies," says she.
Reaction of most parents would be "Don't worry, God will take care of you."
That is often a prelude to the installation of a belief that can be held as a fa
ct:
.a life sustaining
.life guiding
.fear reducing
.unquestioned
.reassuring
.sometimes terrifying "it's going to happen" assumption
fit it into what u know - distorted
boulder beneath water - unconscious
directs flow of water around it
eddy
kicks in automatically without conscious attention
Similarly, internalized beliefs direct the flow of trafffic of information comin
g their way. Information compatible with an internalized belief is stored in an
eddy where it remians accessible. For instance, the eddy formed by a boulder sec
ured by soul and afterlife beliefs might contain:
acceptable information
Left Behind the movie
90 minutes in heaven don piper
heaven is for real
life beyond death dr ebn alexander iii
creationism
intelligent design
Unacceptable information sent on its way downstream
same sex marriage
science
global warming
theory of evolution
gay rights
abortion rights
euthanasia
The End of Faith sam harriss
god is not great
breaking th spell
the god delusion
Why it is so easy for kids to believe in afterlife.
they are told to believe that by their elders
study in belfast
mouse field alligator
3yrs old - intuit something survives death
mental time travel
4 yrs old
remember
be in one place and imagine urself in another
imagine how it would be in one situation than another
great value
intuitive grasp of physics
In other words, kids, as "natural dualists" are prepared to belief and they are
particularly ready to accept the idea that "yes you will die, but not really bec
ause your soul will carry on."
more organized, more cumbersome culture
-if you do this
-social cultural
alternative to police state
common belief to survive death and live in peace forever
if not do the right thing, torture, and it might be eternal burning but maybe ou
tside god and his protection
Other than living in a police state, a more powerful mechanism of social control
could never have been devised.
Do what you are told to do not only to be a valued member of your tribe, but als
o for your well-being for all tim.
The unconscious knows no time
fresh today as it was first installed
The child is father (mother) to the man (woman)
internalized child calling shots
Adults make decisions, but the internalized child call the shots
automatic assumptions
Only solution I know about to counter automaticity to become mindful of what we
were told when we were kids:
war over territory
also fighting over who has the right to occupy the kingdom of god
---
Unwittingly, Gages example indicated that something in the brain was
concerned specifically with unique human properties, among them the ability to a
nticipate
the future and plan accordingly within a complex social environment; the sense o
f
responsibility toward the self and others; the ability to orchestrate ones surviv
al
deliberately, at the command of ones free will.

The most striking aspect of this unpleasant story is the discrepancy between the
normal
personality structure that preceded the accident and the nefarious personality t
raits that
surfaced thereafter and seemed to have remained for the rest of Gages life. Gage
had once
known all he needed to know about making choices conducive to his betterment. Af
ter the
accident, he no longer showed respect for social convention; ethics in the broad
sense were
violated; the decisions he made did not take into account his best interest, and
he was given
to invent tales without any foundation except in fantasy. There was no evidence
of concern
about his future; no sign of forethought.

The alterations of Gages personality were not subtle. He could not make good choi
ces and
the choices he made were not simply neutral. They were not the reserved or sligh
t decisions
of someone whose mind is diminished and who is afraid to act, but were instead a
ctively
disadvantageous. One might venture that either his value system was now differen
t, or, if it
was still the same, there was no way in which the old values could influence his
decisions. No
evidence exists to tell us which is true, yet my investigation of patients with
brain damage
similar to Phineas Gages convinces me that neither explanation captures what happ
ens in
those circumstances. Some part of the value system remains can be utilized in ab
stract
terms, but it is unconnected to real-life situations. When the Phineas Gages of
this world
need to operate in reality, the decision making process is minimally influenced
by old
knowledge.
There is no question that Gages personality change was caused by a circumscribed
brain
legion in a specific site. But that explanation would not be apparent until two
decades after
the accident. For a long time, everybody believed that the portion of the brain t
raversed,
was, for several reasons, the best fitted of any part of the cerebral substance
to sustain the
injury. In other words a part of the brain that did nothing much was thus expenda
ble. Yet
Gages case raised more questions than answers.
collector's behavior
-----