Round The Table - Discuss

I think it was mostly 'nurture' and the development of 'character' - breeding, education and the like, with no hard-wiring or biological basis. The earliest attribution of a specific deficit to a brain injury is of course by Broca in the mid 1800s (we still have Broca's area in the brain, involved in speech). Following this initial breakthrough, many different deficits were 'mapped' to different regions of the brain., although in a rather simplistic, modular (non-networked) fashion. After that it was Luria in Russia (around WWII?), but his work did not get the exposure it deserved because of language issues, war etc. - some of it did not come out in English until the late 1980s!

There is one very cool notion in all this history. Most of the 'easily' studied neurological deficits involve the left side of the brain, which controls the 'higher' functions and constitutes a more recent evolutionary addition. The more 'primitive', evolutionarily older right hemisphere, we share with our animal cousins turns out to be much harder to study, because it deals with very fundamental brain processes. Often, a patient with right-brain problems is not even aware of the problem, although it ma be as clear as day to everyone around him! For anyone interested, I would recommend "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" by Oliver Sacks. It is an easy read that's extremely entertaining. Not a tome that has to be plowed through with grim determination, but short, very well written vignettes about problem brains.

Of course, my favorite model of the brain remains that proposed by one of the old Greeks (Aristotle, I think). He ventured that the brain was a 'cooling organ'. I agree that the brain is overrated - so many people seem to get along fine without one that I suspect that it remains a squishy air-conditioner.

 

Hi Soks!
thanks for the book by Oliver Sacks. Just finished reading it.
i felt a deep sadness for this brilliant musician, and a bit ashamed of not appreciating my blessed life.
deviating a little from the topic, I could not help be awed and amazed at his wife. She is so supportive of him. How much she would have sacrificed? If she is not an example of class who else can be?
i thank you very much for suggesting this book...not only did it illustrate the brains capacities, but also made me philosophical.

 

Hi Uttara
I started reading about Ionia of the Greeks after reading your post. Lady, there is so much information on that, the reading is going to spill over the weekend.

Already it is interesting, the little I could manage to read last evening.

Loved the penguin picture and the delightful article. Lucky photographer.
You have a good sense of humor, girl. Left that smile on the chin, you know the underside of the cheek

 

Hi Uttara
Thanks much. I am not much into philosophy. My head starts aching when I think too much. For me philosophy is to read, try to understand - only less than 1% enters my brain, and continue on with my merry life.

Of, course I will post something I find interesting.

Meanwhile, let me read what you have suggested and posted, adding to my repertoire of knowledge which sadly lacks in content.

I'll surely enter my posts here when/if we get to the two subjects nearer to my heart - carnatic music and space.

 

Hmmm 'free associating' are we? From pineal gland to the pre-socratics, from penguins to philosophy, is that stylus stuck on a 'P' groove?

Re: philosophy in Ionia, if there is a convincing explanation of why there or why then, I am not aware of it. Maybe it was just a meme that went viral! All the cool kids were doing philosophy! Or perhaps Thales' ability to predict eclipses had something to with it. One crucial thing to remember is that the absolute height of intellectual flowering of the Hellenes took only about 80 years - everything we marvel about, in less than a century! If you were to add the pre-socratics and whatnot, then maybe 125 - 150 years? That is a not even a grain in the sands of time. Curiously, only the Greeks and the Indians have any sort of sophisticated metaphysics. It is an equally interesting question to ask why only those two?

The greeks were not necessarily entirely open minded right? They had their insecurities. Think about what happened to Socrates - and speaking of the death of Socrates, Plato's "Apology", which is Socrates' last conversation with his friends on the eve of his death, is a must read (of course, now we veer from the metaphysics of the pre-socratics to political philosophy!). It is one of the most moving documents in all of western literature. The Jowett translation is here. It is short, less than 15 pages, well worth reading. Keep in mind that this text echoes even today in the Snowden saga - those who call him a coward for not staying to face the consequences of his choices refer to the "Apology" as their ur-text! Very powerful stuff! The Spark Notes are here. The text is simple & self-contained, but the notes may help those unfamiliar with classical Greece. This Yale lecture promotes the "Apology" as "the best introductory text to the study of political philosphy" - which it certainly is - well worth an hour of your time, a painless intro to a very resonant text (although the lecturer is a bit wooden)!

A different perspective, a case for the prosecution if you will, is provided in I.F. Stone's "Trial of Socrates" - both irritating and provocative, but quite entertaining!