Blast from the Past: This blog post is from January 1st, 09, when I was still a teacher living in Tucson, Arizona. Now I’m a freelance writer living in Wisconsin… but still love reading about neuroscience.
Although teachers have two months off each summer, about fifteen paid days off scattered throughout the year, and three combined weeks off for winter and spring breaks, I’ve read that teachers work as many hours in their 9 ½ months of gainful employment as the rest of the working population puts into their 11 ½ months. I haven’t closely analyzed the statistics, because if someone offers me time off, I take it! I spent last winter in lovely Costa Rica, and this year I decided to venture to the cold but beautiful tundra of St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Because of the rising cost of airfare, and my boyfriend’s free usage of a company car (not to mention the gas card), we decided to drive. Or rather, he drove. Company policy. Not that I was really dying to drive anyway.
Spending 6 long days in a car with someone is interesting. We braved the bitter cold (putting on coat and gloves to walk two feet inside gas stations), picked up funny postcards, listened to comedy on XM Radio, ate a lot of jerky and only got in one argument (about whether or not Rashad Evans is a boring fighter, if you have to know).
I also did a ton of reading—what else can you do in a moving vehicle for 56 hours? I do not have a science background, but am fascinated by the human brain, so I brought along books… bought and borrowed, old and new. Although I read President-Elect Obama’s Dreams From My Father, the rest of the books were about genes, biology, neuroscience, beliefs, even religion. Here is a short synopsis.
Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend by Barbara Oakley
I had to buy this book as soon as I saw it. The title alone was compelling, and a quick glance through the table of contents sealed the deal. Spurred by wanting to analyze her own sister’s disturbingly selfish inclinations, Barbara Oakley looks into science and history to try to understand why some people are Machiavellian and others are not. Is it found in brain chemistry? Where does free will factor in? And what do the culprits themselves perceive when they engage in evil acts? What are the distinctions? Oakley explores Machiavellianism, psychopathy, antisocial personality disorders, borderline personality disorders, and “evil genes.” She looks at medical imaging, her sister’s love letters and historical bad guys like Slobodan Milosevic and Chairman Mao. She even links to a Machiavellian test online so you can see where you stand. Oakley takes the position that while one’s environment and life experiences can inhibit or exacerbate certain dispositions, this is not always the case depending on the person’s brain chemistry. A fascinating read.
The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, & Miracles by Bruce Lipton
If Barbara Oakley leans toward the “nature” end of the spectrum, Bruce Lipton would be firmly planted in the
“nurture” category. The Biology of Belief begins with a description of the history of science, discussing materialism, dualism, vitalism and so forth. Democritus, Socrates, Aristotle, Magnus, Aquinas, Copernicus and Newton are all mentioned, and Lipton goes into detail about the way the church inhibited scientific discourse.
Lipton, who left a high-paying med school teaching job he felt he could not perform with integrity, believes that it is not genes and DNA that control biology, but that DNA is controlled by signals outside the cell, including messages sent from our thoughts. He states that there are two main parts controlling cells—the proteins (inside the cell) and the signals (from the external environment). Birth defects can hurt cell proteins, and several factors can damage cell signals: trauma (physical damage to the nervous system), chemistry (toxins) and sending the wrong signal at an inappropriate time. Lipton believes that it’s all about the signal; that individual cells have the molecular capacity to hold beliefs and that a cell can “rewrite” a genetic directive. If perception controls behavior, as Lipton indicates, one simply needs to change perception. The subconscious mind as he sees it is just a tape player, programmed from our earliest experiences. It can be rewritten through clinical hypnosis, Buddhist mindfulness or other techniques (not including psychotherapy).
Cell responses are limited to growth (moving toward or taking in stimulus), protection (moving away or closing down in response to stimulus) or neutral responses to innocuous stimuli. He boils it down to love and fear—and even says autism is increased in orphanages due to a lack of love. A cell biologist by training, Bruce Lipton’s work is certainly intriguing. Was this book in the “new age” section because he is challenging the status quo, or because it’s more self-help-y than scientific? The jury’s still out on that one.
The Body Has A Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better by Sandra Blakesly and Matthew Blakesly
I borrowed this book from my neighbor, a teacher who is vehemently opposed to pseudo-science in all its forms. The book breaks down the different parts of the brain and what they are mostly used for, and explores “body maps” in the brain. Did you know that as far as your brain is concerned, your body includes not only the space around you, but also any tools or equipment you may be using? There are vivid drawings and diagrams and examples of sensory organs: for humans, it is the hands and lips. The Blakeslys also explain the reasons for feeling fat after losing weight, golfers getting the yips and other body illusions. Why would wearing a cat suit help an anorexic? Why can the brain not distinguish between imagining playing basketball and actually doing it? How could the usage of mirrors help people who have lost the ability to use limbs due to strokes? Fading limbs, amputee wannabees, multiple limbs and other experiences and out-of-body experiences are discussed and leave more questions than answers. Why is yawning contagious and what are mirror neurons? A fun and easy read–highly recommended.
The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins
My boyfriend lent me this book after we saw the movie Religulous. He believed that physicist/geneticist and author Francis S. Collins, well-known for his leadership of the Human Genome Project, had a lot more to offer than was displayed in a short one-sided conversation with Bill Maher. I was intrigued by the book because Collins is unapologetically religious, and yet he is strongly opposed to both creationism and Intelligent Design. His arguments against them are well-written and well-thought-out. However, I felt that his arguments in favor of theism (in the vein of C.S. Lewis) were a bit weak.
Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefsby Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman
I don’t know if a review of this book can really do it justice. It was SO GOOD: well-written, comprehensive and loaded to the brim with fascinating facts, thoughts and ideas. What are our beliefs, and how do we form them? Newberg and Waldman believe that there are “four interacting spheres of influence”—perception, cognition, emotional value and social consensus. The book really digs deep into each of these spheres, explaining how they work and describing which are most prevalent during the different stages of development. The fine line between perception and illusion is discussed in depth. How does our brain form our reality? The book culminates in an exploration of spiritual beliefs and the brain, discussing some of Newberg’s brain scans of Catholic nuns, Buddhist monks, Pentecostals speaking in tongues, and an atheist who meditated on the image of God. He is continuing to research the neurobiological effects of meditation on the brain, which is why I originally picked up the book. The most fascinating sections for me, though, were the ones on different forms of bias, and and on the gap between belief and moral behavior. The moral dilemmas discussed got my brain all twisted up in knots—in a good way! Heavily researched with tons of footnotes, this book was thoughtful and engaging but not a quick read. I loved it.
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