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Post by Smithee on Feb 28, 2012 18:22:41 GMT 10
Situational.
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Post by brandt on Feb 28, 2012 23:51:44 GMT 10
. . . and that means? Could it mean that we do have different modules and they do not all operate at the same time?
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Post by Tamrin on Feb 29, 2012 5:37:24 GMT 10
Among humans it may simply be a case of learning what works and creatively doing the best with what one has.
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Post by Smithee on Feb 29, 2012 18:20:28 GMT 10
. . . and that means? Could it mean that we do have different modules and they do not all operate at the same time? Show me a module.
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Post by brandt on Mar 1, 2012 16:17:07 GMT 10
I will do so, let me get through the night. Doing the housekeeping tonight, will show evidence tomorrow night. It won't even be a monkey.
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Post by Smithee on Mar 1, 2012 17:19:15 GMT 10
Innate?
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 1, 2012 20:15:58 GMT 10
The very notion of innate behaviours (instincts) is fraught with difficulty. To be innate, conventional wisdom says it must be genetic. Genes direct protein production, raising the question of how proteins are expressed as behaviours. Yet there is no denying most animals exhibit instincts to a greater or lesser degree. Admittedly the developing science of epigenetics may yet provide some insight regarding instincts, restoring some credibility to a degree of Lamarkism in evolution. I suspect many apparently complex instincts can be reduced to simple tropisms. For instance, elsewhere someone was carrying on about synchronized swarm behaviour in locusts (schooling, milling, flocking, herding, etc.) and it was shown that the behaviours could be reduced to three basic rules or tropisms: 1. Move in the same direction as your neighbours; 2. Remain close to your neighbours; and 3. Avoid collisions with your neighbours. Some instinctual behaviours such as migration seem to suggest the animals innately possess a bizarrely detailed mind map of the world, leading them to stop off at and to go to specific places. Instead there may be a simple directional tropism (e.g., electro- or thermo-tropism), mediated by whatever physically suitable and suitably spaced locations they encounter along the way.
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Post by brandt on Mar 2, 2012 16:09:25 GMT 10
The ultimate goal would be to identify those factors that are transmittable through generations. That would be useful. In the mean time we can work with what we have. The human brain, for example, is far from a unified organ. The plasticity of the brain is not infinite. The fusiform gyri do not take on the duties of the occipital lobe after injury. The frontal lobe does not begin to handle sight after damage to the "vision centers" of the brain. Plasticity is demonstrably limited and has been for quite some time.
If I may ask, since we all agree that animals have instincts - but you have earlier offered that Homo sapiens are losing instincts. I have looked for information on this that could be examined. I admit that it has not been an exhaustive search. Could you provide me with the evidence that you have used to make this decision?
Epigenetics and related materials does open huge doors. Genetics are not immaterial but are part of the being. How they are part of the being and that being's behavior should be a matter of some importance for those interested in the study of the human "mind."
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Post by brandt on Mar 2, 2012 16:12:39 GMT 10
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Post by Smithee on Mar 2, 2012 16:48:48 GMT 10
“Many academics have been resistant to the idea of a modular human mind despite the mass of supporting empirical evidence.” Or could it be that many academics have been resistant to the idea because of a lack of supporting empirical evidence. It is not enough to say there is a mass of it, you actually have to produce it. “Evolutionary psychology research has demonstrated that the human mind is not a logic devise [sic], but rather a specialized mechanism for dealing with certain types of adaptive problems.” Where has this been demonstrated? The examples which followed of Fear Learning and Social Reasoning had nothing to do with innate behaviours.
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