The God Whispers of Tu-Long
These subtleties are oh so enjoyable. If you're going to skip this, at least read the last two or three paragraphs. But do read the whole thing, its not that long.
Behavior is a being of two powers: genetics and environment. At no point is behavior entirely independent of either one or the other; always the two must play their combined role in controlling an organism. These two principles apply themselves to other aspects of organisms that we don't usually think of as "behavior" in the expected sense. Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are both influenced by the genetics of an individual as well as their life experiences. Parkinson's provides the obvious comparison between the unfortunate individual who is genetically predisposed to the disease, and a somewhat famous boxer known as Muhammad Ali, who developed the disorder after years of powerful physical abuse. For a great many people out there, their fears lie in what they will do for themselves and how they will accomplish such things.
What few realize is that these genetic and environmental influences both leave little room for self direction. At least from examining animals, even fairly complex mammals, it can be appalling to a newcomer just how little self control is actually possessed by animals. We are all still ruled by fixed action patterns, innate releasing mechanism, action specific potentials, ideal feeding distributions, and a host of other factors which dictate animal behavior. It might be that we should be more wary and afraid of our own motivations.
My professor who taught me animal behavior and neuroanatomy ended our neuroanatomy class with a short discussion about a Jainist friend of his. The two held very different beliefs, but both felt that the human brain lacked unity and purity in its structure and function.
It is like this (at least very, very basically): other animals receive stimuli and their brains sort through the data, applying to the desired goals, and deriving the proper course of action. For them, hesitation is momentary and fleeting. Once done, it is forgotten and not looked back upon.
We lack this type of unity among the gyri of our minds, for among humans beings is seen an unprecedented amount of planning, contemplation, hesitation, confusion, and regret. To me, the existence of regret, which dominates the existence of many unfortunate individuals, is perhaps the most telling of these factors. What is the difference in human beings that many unfortunate individuals, is perhaps the most telling of these factors. What is the difference in human beings that causes us to regret? Greater planning and emphasis on goal directed behavior makes sense, and is a large part of why we have come so far beyond our primate cousins. But what purpose does regret serve?
Sure, you can explain how a society cannot function without regret, but that is not the strange part. The human brain has not changed significantly since the days of the hunter-gatherer peoples of 30,000 BC. For them, regret serves little practical use. In small groups, wasting one's energy regretting the demise of another provides only a genetic fitness harm, without true benefit. Where did it originate?
What is probably the source for the original idea of regret is the amygdala. Basically works like this: animal makes a choice, and the outcome is harmful to its fitness. A negative reinforcement is generated by the amygdala, so that the memory of the incident carries an outcome is harmful to its fitness. A negative reinforcement is generated by the amygdala, so that the memory of the incident carries an unpleasantness with it. Thus, the animal will "regret" this action, and if the same decision or a similar one comes up again in the future, they will be sure to choose another alternative, thanks to the regret reaction.
So, we humans rather take it another scale, since when we regret, oftentimes we will obsess over the past decisions instead of moving along and making use of the information (this part is a bit wishy washy in terms of the science). You could sort of say that we've performed an elaborate about-face so that the regret does more harm to us than good.
This is of course an overstatement, as regret and lesser amygdalar associations affect our behavior daily and we're none the wiser and would be thankful for them if we paid close enough attention to see what was going on. Its just those few little (or actually BIG as the case usually is) regretful incidents that we consciously remember and think about. Nevertheless, this doesn't happen to other species, so one usually is) regretful incidents that we consciously remember and think about. Nevertheless, this doesn't happen to other species, so one must beg the question: what caused us to develop in such a way that we have supported this sort of behavior, which is harmful to our genetic fitness?
For those of you who haven't heard my story: the entries of this nature are my attempt to gradually reason together an explanation for how and why humanity has become so different from every other animal on the planet. This includes aforementioned regretted actions and a multitude of other clashing behaviors.
Next time: more elaboration on human behavior and the relationship between it and the genetics and environments of our species.
Behavior is a being of two powers: genetics and environment. At no point is behavior entirely independent of either one or the other; always the two must play their combined role in controlling an organism. These two principles apply themselves to other aspects of organisms that we don't usually think of as "behavior" in the expected sense. Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are both influenced by the genetics of an individual as well as their life experiences. Parkinson's provides the obvious comparison between the unfortunate individual who is genetically predisposed to the disease, and a somewhat famous boxer known as Muhammad Ali, who developed the disorder after years of powerful physical abuse. For a great many people out there, their fears lie in what they will do for themselves and how they will accomplish such things.
What few realize is that these genetic and environmental influences both leave little room for self direction. At least from examining animals, even fairly complex mammals, it can be appalling to a newcomer just how little self control is actually possessed by animals. We are all still ruled by fixed action patterns, innate releasing mechanism, action specific potentials, ideal feeding distributions, and a host of other factors which dictate animal behavior. It might be that we should be more wary and afraid of our own motivations.
My professor who taught me animal behavior and neuroanatomy ended our neuroanatomy class with a short discussion about a Jainist friend of his. The two held very different beliefs, but both felt that the human brain lacked unity and purity in its structure and function.
It is like this (at least very, very basically): other animals receive stimuli and their brains sort through the data, applying to the desired goals, and deriving the proper course of action. For them, hesitation is momentary and fleeting. Once done, it is forgotten and not looked back upon.
We lack this type of unity among the gyri of our minds, for among humans beings is seen an unprecedented amount of planning, contemplation, hesitation, confusion, and regret. To me, the existence of regret, which dominates the existence of many unfortunate individuals, is perhaps the most telling of these factors. What is the difference in human beings that many unfortunate individuals, is perhaps the most telling of these factors. What is the difference in human beings that causes us to regret? Greater planning and emphasis on goal directed behavior makes sense, and is a large part of why we have come so far beyond our primate cousins. But what purpose does regret serve?
Sure, you can explain how a society cannot function without regret, but that is not the strange part. The human brain has not changed significantly since the days of the hunter-gatherer peoples of 30,000 BC. For them, regret serves little practical use. In small groups, wasting one's energy regretting the demise of another provides only a genetic fitness harm, without true benefit. Where did it originate?
What is probably the source for the original idea of regret is the amygdala. Basically works like this: animal makes a choice, and the outcome is harmful to its fitness. A negative reinforcement is generated by the amygdala, so that the memory of the incident carries an outcome is harmful to its fitness. A negative reinforcement is generated by the amygdala, so that the memory of the incident carries an unpleasantness with it. Thus, the animal will "regret" this action, and if the same decision or a similar one comes up again in the future, they will be sure to choose another alternative, thanks to the regret reaction.
So, we humans rather take it another scale, since when we regret, oftentimes we will obsess over the past decisions instead of moving along and making use of the information (this part is a bit wishy washy in terms of the science). You could sort of say that we've performed an elaborate about-face so that the regret does more harm to us than good.
This is of course an overstatement, as regret and lesser amygdalar associations affect our behavior daily and we're none the wiser and would be thankful for them if we paid close enough attention to see what was going on. Its just those few little (or actually BIG as the case usually is) regretful incidents that we consciously remember and think about. Nevertheless, this doesn't happen to other species, so one usually is) regretful incidents that we consciously remember and think about. Nevertheless, this doesn't happen to other species, so one must beg the question: what caused us to develop in such a way that we have supported this sort of behavior, which is harmful to our genetic fitness?
For those of you who haven't heard my story: the entries of this nature are my attempt to gradually reason together an explanation for how and why humanity has become so different from every other animal on the planet. This includes aforementioned regretted actions and a multitude of other clashing behaviors.
Next time: more elaboration on human behavior and the relationship between it and the genetics and environments of our species.