Rocket surgery
Hey Folks,
They say “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon” to do such and so. Well, it turns out that Uke Man didn’t have to be a Brain Scientist to notice long ago something Robert Sapolsky, a distinguished neuroscientist just discovered and spoke about on NPR (link below - give a listen).
I’ve been speaking to kids at a local high school for a number of years, urging them to trust in themselves to figure things out, to suspect the motives of “experts,” to seek after and discover truth for themselves.
As part of that, I’ve related that most people start out as these young people still are: wondering about the world and seeking to learn and understand, but that at some point, for some reason, they stop looking, latch on to something as if it were the ultimate revelation; and the rest of their lives blindly defend against any perceived “threat” to the “truth” they have personally settled for.
Not only do these folks refuse any new possibilities in their philosophies or politics, but even refuse to enjoy and appreciate music created after their high school or college days.
These people, I tell them, are petrified, ossified; in a way, dead.
Robert Sapolsky noticed this phenomenon as the result of a musically adventuresome young employ's taste. The variety of the kid’s music (which he overheard) pissed him off; so, as a scientist he did a little study.
He thinks his reaction is, down-deep, a genetically or biologically determined trait. I think he’s wrong (and his “study” didn’t seem – based on what I heard – very thorough).
I think people stop growing because in many ways it’s a lot easier, a lot less demanding, a lot less stressful, less tiring, less confusing, less fearful. Here’s a bit of what I present to the kids regarding this:
Here is a list of options. If forced to decide, which one of each pair would YOU choose?
Science or Faith
Learning or Accepting
Education or Indoctrination
Thought or emotion
Knowing or Guessing
Self or Authority
Evidence or Dogma
Activity or Passivity
The Present or the Past
Sanity or Adjustment
Doubt or Certainty
Discovery or Testimonials
Reality or Virtual Reality
Objectivity or Spin
Truth or Fiction
Freedom or Security
Independence or Dependence
Intelligence or Emotion
Courage or Cowardice
The inherent difficulty of the first options – along with the ease of the alternatives - explains the attractiveness of the second options.
Most of us would claim to prefer the first option if confronted by a reporter, but in our daily existence overwhelmingly behave in accordance with the second option.
To listen to what the Brain Scientist said on NPR,
Click here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5652676
- Uke Man
They say “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon” to do such and so. Well, it turns out that Uke Man didn’t have to be a Brain Scientist to notice long ago something Robert Sapolsky, a distinguished neuroscientist just discovered and spoke about on NPR (link below - give a listen).
I’ve been speaking to kids at a local high school for a number of years, urging them to trust in themselves to figure things out, to suspect the motives of “experts,” to seek after and discover truth for themselves.
As part of that, I’ve related that most people start out as these young people still are: wondering about the world and seeking to learn and understand, but that at some point, for some reason, they stop looking, latch on to something as if it were the ultimate revelation; and the rest of their lives blindly defend against any perceived “threat” to the “truth” they have personally settled for.
Not only do these folks refuse any new possibilities in their philosophies or politics, but even refuse to enjoy and appreciate music created after their high school or college days.
These people, I tell them, are petrified, ossified; in a way, dead.
Robert Sapolsky noticed this phenomenon as the result of a musically adventuresome young employ's taste. The variety of the kid’s music (which he overheard) pissed him off; so, as a scientist he did a little study.
He thinks his reaction is, down-deep, a genetically or biologically determined trait. I think he’s wrong (and his “study” didn’t seem – based on what I heard – very thorough).
I think people stop growing because in many ways it’s a lot easier, a lot less demanding, a lot less stressful, less tiring, less confusing, less fearful. Here’s a bit of what I present to the kids regarding this:
Here is a list of options. If forced to decide, which one of each pair would YOU choose?
Science or Faith
Learning or Accepting
Education or Indoctrination
Thought or emotion
Knowing or Guessing
Self or Authority
Evidence or Dogma
Activity or Passivity
The Present or the Past
Sanity or Adjustment
Doubt or Certainty
Discovery or Testimonials
Reality or Virtual Reality
Objectivity or Spin
Truth or Fiction
Freedom or Security
Independence or Dependence
Intelligence or Emotion
Courage or Cowardice
The inherent difficulty of the first options – along with the ease of the alternatives - explains the attractiveness of the second options.
Most of us would claim to prefer the first option if confronted by a reporter, but in our daily existence overwhelmingly behave in accordance with the second option.
To listen to what the Brain Scientist said on NPR,
Click here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5652676
- Uke Man
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