Each day i see a lot of people using their amygdala to make important choices in their life. For those of you who do not know what an amygdala is see...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala_hijack
Me Blonk-head #@%$#
The amygdala is a part of the brain that existed in prehistoric man ( person ... to be politically correct ). I like to call it the lizard brain or the dinosaur brain. Back in 1,000,000 B.C. ( did you see the movie with Raquel Welch ? ) the way to survive was as follows:
= Live in a tribe ( best form of protection )
= Distrust strangers ( they don't trust you )
= Make decisions for the short term ( why worry about the future when a dinosaur would eat you today ? )
= Make snap decisions .... based on very little data .... skin color , sex , mannerisms, hair style , costume , age , etc. ( why not ? we don't have time or tools for anything better )
= Don't think too much... reflection takes energy and we are starving
= Count on your family ( selfish genes ? )
= Emotions define reality ( who has time to analyze ? )
= Leaders are magical ( they bring good fortune .... not bad luck .. just ask them )
The amygadala was useful in prehistory but now it is not so useful. It reinforces tribalism and racism and xenophobia. Lot of fantasies exist because of the amygdala.
The Future
The wave of the future ... the Sophont2 ( S2 ) does not depend on the amygdala. The amaydala is still good for some things .... but not for making rational choices. The S2 is an anarchist. The S2 loves the idea of the #IPPParadigm. The S2 loves self-actualization , collaboration , voluntary action , diversity , honesty , truth , creativity , ........ As a famous American document says ....
Random Thoughts
Booker T. Washington
Comments I have made
Racial Fantasy
I apologize .... my comment was very hit and run ..... Here is what I believe.
Genetic information does not reveal anything to suggest that human
might be grouped by race. Race was an idea invented before genetic
science emerged. Race was based on one of the axioms that emerges from
amygdala , lizard brain thinking. That is the axiom that strangers are
dangerous. In the good old days ( 1,000,000 B.C. ) your tribe was your
survival. Those outside the tribe were danger. Your tribe members
resembled each other because of inter-breeding. People did not get
around much in those days. Thus the concept of race slowly developed.
It was based on using very superficial methods of measurement.
Presently ( 2014 ) people are still very much amygdala driven. They still very much believe in the idea that races exist. The idea is so ingrained that people are not even aware it is an emotional construct. Race is viewed as a *fact*.
I try to think like a Martian who has just come to earth and is looking
around. I would think that there was one race of humans with a wide
variety of colorations, sizes , behaviours , etc. I don't see races of
humans. If the Martian did ..... he might base it on suits versus
non-suits. Or the hairless versus the very hairy.
Sorry I was so unclear.
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For those of you who are interested in concepts that emerge from the amygdala ( lizard brain ) : see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala
One concept is tribalism. Part of tribalism is identity with one's tribe and fear/hate of strangers.
Many who live in America say "My side tortures." "My side is exceptional" "Support our troops" These statements are based on identifying with the tribe "America". This is a logical fallacy because one cannot reasonably form a tribe out of 300+ million people. The range of philosophies in such a group is staggering. Feeling responsible or feeling proud of what America does fails at two levels....
#1 "America" cannot do anything. Only individuals ( or perhaps small groups ) can do things. One group from America may do something and another group from America opposes it. So it does not mean anything reasonable to say " America tortures " or "America is exceptional". It is a form of jingoism.
#2 If an individual ( American citizen ) does or thinks something , it is not reasonable to suggest America is a clone of that person. Nor is it reasonable to hold that person responsible for "something that America does or thinks".
( This applies to other countries and other imaginary groups as well.... such as blacks ,whites , hispanics , liberals , conservatives, Democrats , Republicans, etc. )
I understand the impulse to say
"Our Broncos lost the SuperBowl"
"Our troops are the best"
"Liberals are idiots"
"We tortured and killed people"
"The Japanese would have used the atomic bomb"
etc.
The problem is that in each case individuals are grouped together who have no substantial relationship or responsibility to each other. Using such shortcuts makes the amygdala happy ... at the same time it makes accurate , reasoned discourse difficult.
If you read this far ... thank you for attending to my speech.
Gus in Denver 99guspuppet tags: #AmygdalaFantasies AmygdalaFantasies AmygdalaFantasy xxAmygdalaFantasy xxAmygdalaFantasies xxAmygdala 777AmygdalaFantasy 777AmygdalaFantasies aaamygdalafantasies aamygdalafantasies aaamygdala aamygdala
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tags: keywords #AmygdalaFantasy 777amygdala 777NoToAmygdala #AmygdalaFantasies 777S2 #Sophont2 #S2 #RacialFantasies #RacialFantasy xxAmygdala
