Blunderov
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"We think in generalities, we live in details"
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RE: virus: Mind Reading Brain Cells
« on: 2006-01-15 04:47:41 » |
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[Blunderov] The neurological mechanism of empathy disclosed?
Also, it seems likely to me that those persons who are gifted at mimicry will be found to have a goodly supply of mirror neurons. Essentially, IMO, the mimic runs a simulation of the subject and reproduces aspects of that simulation.
Best regards.
http://www.atsnn.com/story/190879.html
Mind Reading Brain Cells
Posted by: soficrow On: Fri January, 13 2006 @ 03:50 GMT Scientists in Parma Italy observed "mind reading" brain cells called "mirror neurons" 15 years ago, and first published their findings in 1996. Research on mirror neurons has continued, and multiple mirror neuron systems now are understood as responsible for learning, empathy, and the ability to understand other peoples intentions. The latest study shows that mirror neurons and aggression-related brain functions are activated in children watching violent TV, increasing the probability that they will behave violently. Behind the scenes, the discovery is shaking up scientific disciplines from psychotherapy to biology.
original news source:
www.nytimes.com The human brain has multiple mirror neuron systems that specialize in carrying out and understanding not just the actions of others but their intentions, the social meaning of their behavior and their emotions. ..."We are exquisitely social creatures," Dr. Rizzolatti said. "Our survival depends on understanding the actions, intentions and emotions of others." ...Mirror neurons reveal how children learn, why people respond to certain types of sports, dance, music and art, why watching media violence may be harmful and why many men like pornography.
..."Mirror neurons allow us to grasp the minds of others not through conceptual reasoning but through direct simulation. By feeling, not by thinking." ...The discovery is shaking up numerous scientific disciplines, shifting the understanding of culture, empathy, philosophy, language, imitation, autism and psychotherapy. ...Until now, scholars have treated culture as fundamentally separate from biology, she said. "But now we see that mirror neurons absorb culture directly, with each generation teaching the next by social sharing, imitation and observation."
...a study in the January 2006 issue of Media Psychology found that when children watched violent television programs, mirror neurons, as well as several brain regions involved in aggression were activated, increasing the probability that the children would behave violently. ...People who rank high on a scale measuring empathy have particularly active mirror neurons systems, Dr. Keysers said. ...Social emotions like guilt, shame, pride, embarrassment, disgust and lust are based on a uniquely human mirror neuron system found in a part of the brain called the insula, Dr. Keysers said. ...Therapists can use their own mirror system to understand a client's problems and to generate empathy, he said. ...Art exploits mirror neurons, said Dr. Vittorio Gallese, a neuroscientist at Parma University. ...Similarly, millions of fans who watch their favorite sports on television are hooked by mirror neuron activation. ...In yet another realm, mirror neurons are powerfully activated by pornography, several scientists said. ...The vicarious thrill of watching sex, it turns out, is not so vicarious after all...
...Ever wonder how you know what you know? Or why you don't get what others take for granted? It seems our psychic powers and our ability to "fit in" both depend on multiple mirror neuron systems - and the breadth of our social exposures and experience. Makes sense to me.
Everyone has innate psychic ability, according to the advertising copy for psychic training programs and writers like Sufi Idries Shah. Training involves activating the part of the brain that perceives, and making the process conscious. Different schools use various ways to open these very real pathways in the brain and help people develop their "psychic" abilities. And it sounds like these guys are talking about developing multiple mirror neuron systems.
Too often, our society shuts down and suppresses our innate abilities, leaving us with only a primitive shadow of what is possible. And the mainstream media tends to suppress psychic development. Multiple mirror neuron systems are not developed, only a few. The number of mirror neuron systems are limited, and kept primitive: individuals' empathetic powers are twisted to become a basic "I like, I buy" imperative; and violence simply begets violence, not psychic awareness or understanding.
Military applications of this kind of knowledge are another story, addressed elsewhere on this site.
My questions:
What do you think our world would be like if the scientific knowledge about mirror neurons was used to help individuals learn and grow, instead of using it to develop psycho-weapons and manipulate people?
How might we apply this knowledge responsibly, to benefit individuals and the whole of humankind?
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