Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 17:40:55 -0400
Subject: Re: HAB: Brain Research and the Return of Universal Human Nature?


I'm all for recognizing/overcoming 'merely' natural impulses via 
rational-critical consciousness, but to state flat-out that 
evolutionary biology holds no influence over human behavior stretches 
counter-intuitiveness to absurdity..

I suppose you feel, Mr. Hawkes, that (y)our own mating preferences 
are either socially-constructed or arbitrarily free choices and not a 
matter of nature at all?

Perhaps you would appreciate my suggestion of a Planned 
Inter-Breeding program, whereby we would have the ugly girls mate 
with the pretty boys, and the pretty boys mate with the ugly girls. 
This would greatly help eliminate those pesky, 'irrational', natural 
impulses.

Cheers,

Tom McDonald

>I'm sorry, but the idea that human social behavior is determined by
>evolutionary biology is indeed rubbish--and fascistic rubbish at that.  Maybe
>it does have some relevance to Habermas, although I would say that the
>Arab--Israeli conflict is much more relevant, because it raises 
>questions about
>the normative value of secular rationalism, among other reasons.
>
>Cheers,
>
>David Hawkes
>
>Kevin Olson wrote:
>
>>  Mmm, not rubish at all, David.  From the standpoint of naturalizing
>>  rationality and/or solving the problem of social order, it's definitely
>>  provocative.  You might consider the parallel with Habermas's (and
>>  Parson's) argument that strategic action is parasitic on social
>>  cooperation.  It would be quite interesting if the logical priority of
>>  cooperation were mimicked by evolution.
>>
>>  For a fuller account of "what this has to do with Habermas," you might read
>>  chap. 2 of Joe Heath's _Communicative Action and Rational Choice_.
>>
>>  Best,
>>
>>  Kevin
>>
>>  >First of all, this is rubbish.  Secondly, what does it have to do with
>>  >Habermas?
>>  >
>>  >Cheers,
>>  >
>>  >David Hawkes
>>  >
>>  >Thomas McDonald wrote:
>>  >
>>  >> The New York Times
>>  >> July 23, 2002
>>  >>
>>  >> Why We're So Nice: We're Wired to Cooperate
>>  >> By Natalie Angier
>>  >>
>>  >> What feels as good as chocolate on the tongue or money in the bank
>>  >> but won't make you fat or risk a subpoena from the Securities and
>>  >> Exchange Commission?
>>  >>
>>  >> Hard as it may be to believe in these days of infectious greed and
>>  >> sabers unsheathed, scientists have discovered that the small, brave
>>  >> act of cooperating with another person, of choosing trust over
>>  >> cynicism, generosity over selfishness, makes the brain light up with
>>  >> quiet joy.
>>  >>
>>  >> Studying neural activity in young women who were playing a classic
>>  >> laboratory game called the Prisoner's Dilemma, in which participants
>>  >> can select from a number of greedy or cooperative strategies as they
>>  >> pursue financial gain, researchers found that when the women chose
>>  >> mutualism over "me-ism," the mental circuitry normally associated
>>  >> with reward-seeking behavior swelled to life.
>>  >>
>>  >> And the longer the women engaged in a cooperative strategy, the more
>>  >> strongly flowed the blood to the pathways of pleasure.
>>  >>
>>  >> The researchers, performing their work at Emory University in
>>  >> Atlanta, used magnetic resonance imaging to take what might be called
>>  >> portraits of the brain on hugs.
>>  >>
>>  >> http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/health/psychology/23COOP.html
>>  >>
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