Ep30 "What does it mean to know thyself in the age of neuroscience?" Part 2
Oct 16, 2023
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Can we understand ourselves by studying molecules? The connection between passport color and schizophrenia. The complexities of genetic predispositions for criminal behavior. The relevance of biology for self-knowledge. The interplay of genes, environment, and behavior. The impact of genetics and life circumstances on depression. The complex relationship between nature and nurture. The limitations of understanding human experience through neuroscience. The mistake of reductionism. Unraveling the mysteries of the human brain.
Genetic variations and environmental factors determine the likelihood of developing psychiatric disorders or antisocial behavior.
Understanding the brain through reductionism falls short due to its complexity and the influence of emergent properties and environment.
Deep dives
Genome Project and Gene Similarities
The Human Genome Project discovered that other animals have essentially the same genome as humans, with slightly different configurations. While humans and other animals may seem different, they share similar genetic blueprints for building organs and body parts.
Gene-Environment Interactions
The interaction between genes and the environment plays a crucial role in determining various outcomes. For instance, social stress from being an immigrant to a new country is a critical factor in developing schizophrenia. Additionally, the combination of genetic variations and environmental factors determine the likelihood of developing psychiatric disorders or antisocial behavior.
Reductionism and the Complexity of the Brain
Reductionism, the approach of breaking things down into smaller pieces to understand the whole system, has its limitations in neuroscience. The brain is a highly complex system, and understanding it purely through reductionist approaches falls short. Emergent properties, the interactions between different levels, and the influence of environment on brain function make the brain-mind relationship more intricate than reductionism suggests.
The Future of Understanding the Brain
The current state of neuroscience does not fully comprehend the brain-mind connection. The complexity of the brain, along with the limitations of reductionism, indicates that there is still much to learn. Openness to potential connections, such as those between quantum mechanics and neuroscience, is crucial for scientific progress.
Can we explain our rich experience of life only by studying the molecules that compose us? How is the color of your passport related to your chances of presenting with schizophrenia? Males are more predisposed to commit crime, so why don’t all males commit crime? And what does any of this have to do with traffic jams, why Seinfeld is funny, and how we’re ever going to come to know ourselves from studying biology? Join Eagleman to talk about levels of understanding, what a meaningful explanation would look like, and the possibility that we are not near the conclusion of science's journey, but instead near the beginning.
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