Nature and Nurture
Humans evolved from primate ancestors and retained features
of brain construction, mind and behavior that have been present in animals for
hundreds of millions of years. Each one of us is the reincarnation of a
long-lineage of ancestors. Species memory, perceptual skills, needs, drives,
feelings, desires and behaviors are built into us and begin operating in utero.
The human brain is most evolved organ with the most complex assemblies of old
and new parts.
The first principle of bodybrainmind is that each person has
a repertoire of innate programs and some choice how the programs are going to
be expressed. Innate programs have been called "instincts." The old definition of "instincts" -
behaviors that arise spontaneously and are not learned – needs modification
since innate programming has to be practiced and is molded by learning. The
distinction between strictly innate and strictly learned behavior is
artificial. Some of the systems in our brain are designed to be modified and
elaborated by the experience of the individual. Bodybrainmind is to some extent
an open-ended system that will evolve a unique identity in the lifetime of each
individual. Humans live in a tense matrix of innate tendencies that tend to
prevail forces that modify and elaborate these tendencies.
Bodybrainmind has evolved in interaction with world-events
and is indistinguishable from world events. The modification of brain structure
and function is "learning." Learning involves all experience and not
just time spent in school. Learning is dependent on the availability of innate
programs that organize the acquisition of skills and knowledgeable. A newborn baby cannot talk in coherent
sentences even if both parents prompt him 24 hours a day. The baby and the
parents have to wait until the brain has grown and organized the language
circuits which come on line in a predictable sequence.
Innate Tendencies
Innate tendencies are constant features of human nature,
buried deeply in the human psyche. Innate tendencies are not rigid forms but
are patterns of organization that collect individual, biographic content.
Innate programs are the form and biographical details are the content. There
are two essential principles:
1. Innate tendencies exert a persisting motivational force
even though new learning may override them.
2. New learning is added to, but cannot replace old
tendencies.
Recurrent patterns of behavior in human societies reveal
innate tendencies. Similarities in emotional expressions in animal and humans
reveal innate tendencies. Brain function has evolved conservatively so that old
features of the reptilian brain remain intact in modern humans and the best new
features such as detailed, declarative languages have evolved naturally by the
elaboration of older communication systems shared by many animals. The more
cognition is studied in other animals, the more obvious it is that most
"thinking" is nonverbal and is well distributed in nature. We have to
assume that at some level or other, dinosaurs were thoughtful. Other animals
may not think in the same way humans do and no other animals rely on language,
but all animals communicate using different strategies for encoding and
decoding information. Most animals are specialized for specific environments
and, if we competed on their turf, they could probably beat us in many
ways.
The mind of a Bonobo and a chimpanzee exists in our mind; we
have some modifications and a few added features. Old programs include some of
our most negative qualities such as predatory and territorial aggression and
anger. Some of our most positive qualities are also innate such as the tendency
to bond, care for infants and form cooperative social units with altruistic
features. The old brain remains in control of our bodies and often controls our
minds. Schools have emphasized learning reading and writing, but no school is
capable of designing and installing language processors in the brain. Schools
add content to and exercise the already-existing language processors. Children
learn spoken language naturally and spontaneously but, left on their own, most
will not read and write. Human destiny as a species still lies with the programs
in the old brain. Individuals can transcend the old programs by diligent
learning and practice but individual effort and learning does not change the
genome. Whatever we value about civilized human existence - culture, knowledge,
social justice, respect for human rights and dignity must be practiced anew and
stored as modifications of each person's neocortex.
From Neuroscience Notes by Stephen Gislason MD