The Creation: Summary of chapters 1-4

In the first chapter of his book The Creation, E. O. Wilson addresses a hypothetical southern Baptist pastor. He states that although they have differing views on the creation of the world and humanity, he needs the pastor’s help in appealing to people to save “the creation.” He states that religion and science are the two most powerful forces in today’s world and if they can find a common ground in conserving nature, they can soon solve the problem of our constantly damaging the earth. In the next chapter, Wilson discusses our tendency to take nature and the world around us for granted, living as if it were an endless resource created for our disposal. He claims that scientific knowledge is the key to achieving balance between our human society and nature. If everyone were educated and understood the effects that we have on the earth, and in turn, its effects on us, we may be able to conserve the creation. In the third chapter, Wilson addresses the question “what is nature?” He states that nature is the component of the surrounding environment independent of human society, the part of our planet that can stand alone without humans. He says that nature still remains, despite the humanization of our planet. He gives examples of natural areas that still remain on our planet, such as tropical rainforests, and various areas of tundra and coniferous forests. He introduces the idea of the microwilderness, the population of microbial organisms that inhabit an area. Even in extremely humanized areas, the microwildnerness exists, if only a weed peeking up through a crack. In the fourth chapter, Wilson discusses why we should care about the environment. He describes earth as a protective biosphere that we were made to inhabit. We depend on its health for our own wellbeing. He describes the detrimental effect our species alone has had on the environment, and that our surrounding world requires more respect than humanity pays it. He gives examples of the fate our earth may come to if we continue our lack of respect for nature, such as our use of pesticides.

Reaction to Ramachandran and Damasio

The human brain is full of powerful anatomical pieces that separate us from other animals. As humans evolved, we became intellectually superior creatures and this distinction became a hallmark of our species. Aside from being intellectually superior, however, there are many other distinctions that make us human.  Other things go on inside the human brain that are not easy to put our finger on that allow us to make decisions influenced by powerful emotions, culture, and others around us.

In his book The Tell-Tale Brain, Ramachandran emphasizes the importance of mirror cells in our development into the humans we are today. These mirror cells, which are unique to humans, allow us to behave based on what we observe in others around us, similar to a “monkey see, monkey do” mechanism.  It is amazing that as humans, our development through a lifetime is so powerfully influenced by those around us. It seems that since our species is known for our immense intellectual capacity, we would be able to develop more independently and look within to reason out what it is we need to do in order to develop successfully. Ramachandron’s work, however, suggests that it is because of our ability to acutely perceive our surroundings, especially the actions of other people, that we have become so successful and unique as a species.

Damasio has found a link between decision making in everyday life and the emotions that are tied to them. If we cannot feel emotions, powerful or mundane, that are tied to a decision, we have an extremely difficult time or are incapable of making a decision.  This gives a new spin to what we might think of as a logical decision. It seems that when we are making what we think is an informed decision, we are really playing out the emotions we would experience for each possible option. Then the question of what constitutes a good decision. Clearly, we don’t live in a utilitarian society which would require us to make decisions based on net happiness. It is interesting to think about the bridge between emotion and logic and how we as humans are able to see the importance of one over another given different situations.

Tell-Tale Brain Chapters 7-9

Chapter 7:
In chapter seven of The Tell Tale Brain, Ramachandran attempt to describe how the human brain responds to beauty and what sets humans apart from other animals in how we perceive art. He says that in order “real art” to be aesthetically pleasing, it must involve certain universal properties. In order to understand art, one must understand rasa, or capturing the essence or spirit of something in order to evoke feeling in the viewer’s mind. In order for this to be accomplished, Ramachandran develops a list of nine laws of aesthetics. In this chapter he discusses the first two, grouping and peak shift. He also says that in addition to the nine laws, we must view art while keeping in mind three questions: what, why and how? He proposes three way to experimentally test the laws of aesthetics by using GSR, studying eye movements, and studying cells along visual pathways when primates are exposed to art. He ends by saying that some may refute the overlapping of art and science and that the impact of art is spiritual, however this should not deter us from looking at the effect of art on the brain from a scientific standpoint.

Chapter 8:
In chapter 8, Ramachandran discusses the other seven of his nine universal laws for aesthetics. First he discusses contrast, in which our brain is drawn to the juxtaposition of contrasting colors and light qualities in a single piece of artwork. The principle of isolation is important because it emphasizes one particular piece of information like color or texture while downplaying others. This helps in appealing to “rasa.” The peekaboo, or perceptual problem solving principle describes how something can be more attractive by being less visible, or leaving something to the imagination. Ramachandran says we sometimes prefer things in artwork to be less visible because our brain is wired to be attracted to solving puzzles. The Abhorrence of coincidences principle describes why it is more appealing to look at a picture of a palm tree placed off to the side of, rather than exactly in between two mountains. He says we dislike the tree being centered between the two mountains because our brain tries to find a coincidence between the placement of the tree and the gap between the mountains and cannot find one. Another principle that Ramachandran discusses is orderliness, which is fairly self explanatory. He explains our appeal to orderliness by using the example of a picture frame hanging crookedly on a wall. He says that we seem to have a built in need for regularity and predictably that is violated by such things. The principle of Symmetry explains why we are drawn to symmetrical works of art, such as the Taj Mahal. He says that we are drawn to symmetry because it mimics biological object, which grab our attention. The final principle that Ramachandran discusses is metaphor. Pieces of artwork with metaphor are appealing because there is a hidden message aside from the obvious that our brain works to figure out. Finally, the author talks about why humans are so passionate about art. The obvious reason is simply for fun, however Ramachandran proposes theories that speak to the actual value of art, rather than simple enjoyment.

Chapter 9:
In Chapter nine, Ramachandran discusses the self. He begins by talking about two aspects of consciousness, the qualia, or immediate quality of experience, and the self who experiences sensation. Ramachandran proposes that the self and the qualia are different, however both contribute to consciousness, which is identified in only a few regions of the brain. Ramachandran goes on to define seven aspect of the self: unity, continuity, embodiment, privacy, social embedding, free will, and self-awareness. Ramachandran studies various diseases in order to discovery how each of these aspects contributes to defining the self. In this chapter, he discusses diseases such as apotemnohilia, autism, and self duplication to show how a few of these seven aspects fit in to defining the self. Ramachandran say that by studying patients with diseases like these, we can find out what it truly is to be human.

The Tell-Tale Brain Chapters 1-6 summary

Chapter 1:

In the first chapter of The Tell-Tale Brain, Ramachandran discusses phantom limbs.  A phantom limb occurs when a person feels as though they still have sensation where a limb has been amputated. He describes patients who claim to feel sensation in their phantom limb when another body part, such as the face, is being touched. This is attributed to the proximity of the area of the brain that corresponds to the amputated body part, with the part that is being stimulated. Later in the chapter, Ramachandran talks about using a mirror to “trick” the brain into seeing the amputated limb, a method is called mirror visual feedback. The brain’s ability to “unlearn” the phantom limb sensations is due to the plasticity of the brain, which is something that makes us uniquely human, such as the recognition of a smile, or laughter.

Chapter 2:

The second chapter is about vision. Although many organisms have the ability to see, Ramachandran says that it is our perception that makes us human.  He discusses cases in which people have endured accidents that leave their eyesight untouched, however their perception is skewed, such as one patient who recognized his parents, however, believed they were imposters. He also includes some optical illusions to emphasize the difference between visualization and perception. He then points out many different brain structures and visual pathways, which comprise the “old pathway” and the “new pathway.” While the old pathway is in charge of the “what,” the new pathway is in charge of the “how” and “why,” as well as linking perception to emotion.

Chapter 3:

The third chapter is about synesthesia, a disorder that causes two senses to become entwined, such as associating numbers with colors, and experiencing different emotions with tactile sensation. Ramachandran discusses many different people he has encountered with synesthesia and his quest to find the cause. He describes part of the cause as “cross-wiring,” or cross activation of neurons, caused by a mutant gene.  He ends by proposing the idea that maybe someday we could develop ways to activate or silence certain neurons, possibly leading to an understanding of why we have higher intellectual thought than other animals.

Chapter 4:

In this chapter, Ramachandran discusses the link between mirror neurons and our unique identification of culture.  The ability to adopt another person’s point of view in order to foresee their behavior, called “theory of mind,” is a trait unique to humans. Another unique function of mirror neurons in humans is that they allow for imitation of others, which is unique to the human condition. Although monkeys have mirror neurons, they are incredibly sophisticated in humans.  It is debated, however, how this sophistication came about.

Chapter 5:

In chapter five, Ramachandran discusses autism.  People suffering from autism have difficulty doing things that make us uniquely human, such as having a sense of play that is carried into adulthood, as well as mimicry and imitation.  Ramachandran relates the source of autism to mirror neurons from the previous chapter.  In social settings, patients with autism show less mirror neuron activity than those without autism. He also proposes the idea of a distorted salience landscape, which can be attributed to well known autistic behaviors, such as the strong preference for a set routine.

Chapter 6:

In the sixth chapter, Ramachandran discusses language. He says that true language is unique to humans. There are three areas of our brain, lexicon, semantics, and syntax, that are specialized for language.  In this chapter, he attempts to discover what brought our species from primitive noises to the language we have today.  Ramachandran discusses two main areas of the brain associated with language, the Broca’s and the Wernicke’s areas, and ways in which both are tied into syntx. He also discusses the IPL and how parts of it evolved to be uniquely human, and allow us to use semantics in our language.

Haiku

A fallen leaf

beneath my foot

crumbles to pieces.

 

Through the forrest

we go wandering

into the darkness.

 

The moment of discovery

and gaining new knowledge

feels like betrayal.

Myth and Science

In his article “Origin Myths,” Robert Carniero, brings up the point that science and mythology are similar in that they both share explanatory power, however they differ in that science actually takes steps to verify what is being explained. I, personally, agree with Carniero’s comparison.

Myths, especially those used in Carniero’s article, are created and used primarily to explain why a specific phenomenon occurs. In addition to explanation, myths also serve as a source of entertainment. These myths get passed down from generation to generation, each person retelling the story in their own way, adding embellishments and retelling the story in their own words.  As they get passed from one person to another, the content of myths tends to change. Since people rarely care to prove the content of a myth factual or not, it is acceptable that these stories change over time.

Science, on the other hand, serves not only to explain why a phenomenon occurs, but to ensure that the explanation is factual. The primary function of science is to collect factual data that explains why our world is the way it is. Unlike myths, scientific facts are generally not accepted until they can be proven.  Many people dedicate their lives to collecting data, just to ensure that an explanation of a phenomenon is in fact correct. This is what makes science science: the devotion to ensuring that an accepted idea can be backed up by facts.