Cyborg Buddha Project
Cyborg Buddha BlogDid the neurological predisposition for religious belief and experience develop because it supported obedience to authority, providing selective advantages for groups? Is it now like the appendix, useless and sometimes deadly? What happens when we can turn it on and off?
Apr 1, 2007
On The Compatibility of Religion and Transhumanism
by J. HughesOn April 16 I spoke in Tempe Arizona at a seminar on “Transhumanism and the Concept of Human Nature,” which is part of a four year exploration of Transhumanism and Religion there funded by the Templeton Foundation. My paper got a little out of hand and became a short book: “The Compatibility of Religious and Transhumanist Views of Metaphysics, Suffering, Virtue and Transcendence in an Enhanced Future” (PDF), and has now been published by the Global Spiral, the Templeton-funded Metanexus Institute journal. Any comments welcome.
Apr 1, 2007
Beating our genetic happiness set-point with behavioral interventions
Scientific AmericanInitial results with the interventions have been promising, but sustaining them is tough. Months after a study is over, the people who have stopped the exercises show a drop in happiness. Like a drug or a diet, the exercises work only if you stick with them. Instilling habits is crucial. Another key: “fit,” or how well the exercise matches the person. If sitting down to imagine your best possible self (an optimism exercise) feels contrived, you will be less likely to do it. The biggest factor may be getting over the idea that happiness is fixed--and realizing that sustained effort can boost it. “A lot of people don’t apply the notion of effort to their emotional lives,” Lyubomirsky declares, “but the effort it takes is enormous.”
Apr 1, 2007
Meditation leads to well-being and virtue, which lead to health and longevity
Telluride Daily PlanetFindings from Davidson’s lab clearly suggest that a sense of well-being should not be considered as the simple absence of disease or depression, but rather as the presence of a distinct profile of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation characterized by a pattern of unique neurobiological substrates. Moreover, these patterns of brain function appear to influence peripheral biology in ways that may be consequential for health....“There are many other ways to change the brain, but we know that meditation is a family of procedures that yields virtuous change: we now know that we can learn to cultivate compassion, kindness, altruism, and cooperation, largely through meditation, which produces change in specific brain surfaces,” Davidson said.
Mar 29, 2007
Ten Important Differences Between Brains and Computers
Developing IntelligenceDifference #1: Brains are analog; computers are digital
Difference #2: The brain uses content-addressable memory
Difference #3: The brain is a massively parallel machine; computers are modular and serial
Difference #4: Processing speed is not fixed in the brain; there is no system clock
Difference #5 - Short-term memory is not like RAM
Difference #6: No hardware/software distinction can be made with respect to the brain or mind
Difference #7: Synapses are far more complex than electrical logic gates
Difference #8: Unlike computers, processing and memory are performed by the same components in the brain
Difference #9: The brain is a self-organizing system
Difference #10: Brains have bodies
Bonus Difference: The brain is much, much bigger than any [current] computer
Mar 25, 2007
IEET Launches Cyborg Buddha Project
A confluence of factors makes this the perfect time to ask questions about how neurotechnologies that influence behavior, moral cognition and religious experiences should be used in the future. People on the Christian Right are embroiled in a debate about whether to accept scientific evidence for a biological basis for sexual orientation, and if they do, whether parents should “fix” their gay children in utero. Psychologists and economists are researching the genetic, life course and environmental factors that influence well-being, yielding findings such as cosmetic surgery being as strong a contributor to happiness as religious participation. Bioethics have created the subgenre of neuroethics to examine brain fingerprinting, memory modification and other neurotechnologies.
Devices are being tested to measure empathy and vulnerability to temptation. Resistance is growing internationally to the disastrous policies of “warring" on psychoactive drugs, and in the process on cognitive liberty itself. Neurophilosophers are arguing for a thorough grounding of philosophy in neurology and evolutionary psychology. People of faith are increasingly entering into dialogue with human enhancement advocates about the theological significance of the transhumanist project.
Mar 24, 2007
News of the Future
Changesurfer RadioFrom brains, to stem cells, to apes, to asteroids.
DOWNLOAD/LISTEN/VIEWMar 23, 2007
Physiological indicator of vulnerability to temptation
ScienceBlogA measure of cardiac regulation called “heart rate variability” (HRV) appears to be linked to self regulation according to the article published in the March issue of Psychological Science.
Mar 23, 2007
Technology Used to Measure Empathy
Journal of Nervous & Mental DiseasePhysiologic Correlates of Perceived Therapist Empathy and Social-Emotional Process During Psychotherapy: Simultaneous measures of skin conductance (SC) were obtained from 20 unique and established patient-therapist dyads during a live therapy session followed by patient ratings of therapist empathy....The results support a biological model of perceived patient empathy and patient-therapist social-emotional process during psychotherapy.
Mar 23, 2007
140 Episodes of a TV show about happiness
The Happiness ShowCreated and produced by George Ortega, THE HAPPINESS SHOW premiered May 1st. 2003, on White Plains, New York Cable Channel 76. It has also been cablecast in San Francisco, and is now seen each week on cable television stations in Herkimer County, N.Y. and Fairfield County, C.T. All 140 episodes presented in MPEG format are available for free personal, public access, and commercial TV presentation and distribution anywhere in the world. Just download them, convert them to whatever format you like, and cablecast or present them to anyone you’d like, anywhere you’d like.
IEET Blog