The Brain and Mind discussion



Andrew

I'm new here as well and am a returning student studying linguistics and psychology...especially interested in evolutionary psych..
A "moral organ," eh? So, there would be something like universal moral principals with parameters set by culture-specific stimulus? Interesting.
It seems to me that universal inclinations toward "moral" behavior are pretty neatly explained by "kin selection," which is the idea that behaviors conferring survival benefits to one's relatives will tend to increase in a population. Humans, of course, have spent most of their time on Earth living in small groups in which everyone you meet is likely to be related to you.
For what it's worth, I highly recommend "The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain" by Terrance Deacon.

www.wjh.harvard.edu/~mnkylab/ - 22k
As for Deacon, I know of the book but haven't read it. I'll check it out.

Also, Cordelia Fine, a young British writer, has done a book on how the brain distorts and deceives us. I'm blanking on the main title, but it should google up OK.


It's kind of difficult to phrase exactly what my objections to Dennet's approach are. I would definitely recommend Consciousness Explained, because I think it's one of the few comprehensive books on the mind, and Dennet does at least lay out a theory, defend it against possible attacks, then suggest some further lines of productive enquiry. But overall I just don't think there's enough empirical, hard evidence to justify Dennet's overconfidence in his own theories. I mean, it's definitely worthwhile to consider his dismisal of the 'Cartesian Theatre', and he's probably right to dispell a common notion about how consciousness happens, but then he goes on from there to proclaim himself a kind of master of the mind. He's written like 5 books since then, and I just read an interview with him where he just goes on about how right he is. I don't think he's the only one who does this, and I dislike other writers on consciousness for the same reason. I guess my preference in this area is for writers who make their arguments as far as the science takes them, and who then have the foresight to realize they just can't go any further until the actual science catches up with them. I think Patricia Churchland does this extremely well, and that's why I would recommend 'Neurophilosophy'. It's more dense and not as accessible, but it's also a far more detailed look at what is currently known about the brain, and I think the conclusions she's drawn from that, while not as sweeping as Dennet's, are actually far more valid. I do love Hofstadter, though, and GEB was one of the first and best books I've read about consciousness.



If you are salivating for some extremely empirically grounded cognitive science and reasoned speculation I would recommend:
How The Body Shapes the Mind - Shaun Gallagher
Embodiment and Cognitive Science - Raymond W. Gibbs
Both authors are practicing researchers and actively publishing. They fall squarely in the embodied cognition trend, but that seems to be where things are going, so no harm there. Further, both books have been published within the past two years, so things are pretty up to date. Don't let the heavy research angle deter you, the stuff they present is extremely fascinating (if at times a bit dry).
For some good arguments against Dennett check out "Neither Brain nor Ghost: A Nondualist Alternative to the Mind-Brain Identity Theory" - W. Teed Rockwell (you can find a review on my page).
If you are feeling adventurous, I would also highly recommend "Reconstructing the Cognitive World: The Next Step" - Michael Wheeler. It is the most rigorous refutation of Cartesian inspired philosophy of mind I have come across. It also goes far in establishing a Heidegerrian basis for a new slant in cognitive philosophy which highlights the embodied mind.
All that being said, "Consciousness Explained" is a major work that informs much of today's discussion in the field, so read it for historical interest and context if nothing else. If it's too long, Dennet's "Kinds of Mind" is a short and lucid distillation of some ideas in "Consciousness Explained".

I've just set up an author profile here. Please take a look to find out why I've joined this group. I look forward to participating in your discussions and promise to post more books and info in due course.
In haste,
R.


Looks at the interaction between the brain and hormones from the womb on.
the book is mainly about what hormones have an affect on the brain, when and what that effect is.
I read it last year after finding it by chance at a bookstore but it has helped me to understand what is happening inside my soon to be teenage Daughter which is the reason I looked at the book in the first place.
The book is interesting throughout and at least I can tell my Daughter what's going on with her.
The only problem is that she really doesn't want me to tell her and she would rather just let it happen and be with her friends instead of listening to me about what I've learned.
Lately, the hormones/concepts discussed in the book keep coming up more and more frequently in other readings.
Book is very readable for even the non-science reader and is very informative from other perspectives as far as evolutionary,anthropological, etc.
Author was apparently the founding physician for the first Woman and Mood Disorder Clinic in the US which is located in San Francisco


Cheers,
Aaron,
The Book Reporter

This is humorous on a stereotypical principle. The ability to introduce reason to teenage girls (and boys), is a compelling act of futility.


I'm a big fan of Douglas R. Hofstadter and Steven Pinker. I'm making my way through their books. I recently finished Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, which is now #2 in my favorite books of all time. The #1, Michelangelo's Complete Collection, is a sentimental favorite and will stay there. I'm currently reading his Le Ton Beau De Marot: In Praise Of The Music Of Language, which is another incredible book. I've read Pinker's How the Mind Works and The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, both terrific books.
Wow, this is getting long. I haven't had a long intro since I was a newbie at Goodreads. I must be excited to find this group.


Hi all. I'm delighted to find a group dedicated to understanding human consciousness. It's an area that fascinates me. I'm a great fan of Steven Pinker. See How the Mind Works as a good starting point.
Right now I'm trying to fathom what turns a bright youngster into a cult leader. If anyone has recommendations on books that will help me understand what turns a person into a cult founder, please let me know.
@Michael: welcome to a small world. I just finished reading The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. I really enjoyed it, though I must say that further work in the study of ancient language has cast serious doubt on its central postulate that in Homer's day, humans had no conscious mind. The Wikipedia article on Jaynes cites leading criticisms of the work. Some might interest you.

While not a book, one of my favorite websites is TED.com. This website hosts confereses and talks about almost every topic of modern science, history, and basically everything. I'm rather sure anyone who joined this group is one of the target demographics of the site and would quite in enjoy the myriad of talks and presentations.
Diane Benscoter gives an interesting one on how cults rewire the brain and her experiences with them.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ex_m...
The related videos on the side, (What to watch next) are all tangentially related and provide some great information in the area. Although I haven't seen all of them yet.

Thanks for the suggestion, @Kopec. I did enjoy the talk. Sadly, that's about cult membership and my interest is in what happens in the formative years that makes a Sun Myung Moon, not what happens to make a Moonie, important though that be. I did search TED, being a member, and found nothing on the psychology of those who found cults.

From my experience, there is little in the way of popular books on the topic unfortunately. As an additional thought, I would also recommend looking into similar leadership positions. What I mean by this would be to research what psychological aspects let terrorist, gang, and religious leaders convince and control their subjects.
If by formative years you refer to the circumstances that allow a rise to power then I would assume the best bet to be a biography of specific individuals.
Incredibly similar life experiences are observed when comparing the childhood of death row inmates. I would not be surprised to find similar patterns in those who ascend to those leadership positions. I look forward to seeing any information you write up about the subject.

Books mentioned in this topic
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (other topics)Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (other topics)
Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language (other topics)
How the Mind Works (other topics)
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Steven Pinker (other topics)Douglas R. Hofstadter (other topics)