449 lines
34 KiB
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449 lines
34 KiB
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Intuitive knowledge and its development
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<h1>
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Intuitive knowledge and its development
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</h1>
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<p></p>
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<p>
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<strong>Understanding consciousness is necessary for understanding life. Variations of consciousness, such
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as dementia, depression, delusion, or insight, originality, curiosity have to be understood
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biologically.
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</strong>
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<strong> </strong>
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</p>
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<p>
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To understand our ability to know and discover, I think it's valuable to consider foolishness along with
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wisdom, since "knowledge" consists of both. Scientists have been notorious for opposing new discoveries, but
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the mental rigidity of old age is so general, and well known, that many people have believed that it was
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caused by the death of brain cells. Individual cells do tend to become less adaptive with aging, and
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metabolism generally slows down with aging, but even relatively young and mentally quick people are
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susceptible to losing their ability to understand new ideas.
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</p>
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<p>
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I think our use of language is both the means by which understanding can be preserved, encapsulated, and
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disseminated, and a great impediment to understanding. At first, words are continuous with the intuitive
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framework in which they are learned, but they gradually become relatively independent and abstract. Things
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can be learned without directly experiencing them. Even though words gradually change through use, the
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simple fact that they have a degree of dependability allows them to function even when there is no active
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thought. Uncritical listening is possible, and if a person can say something, it seems to be easy to believe
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that it's true. By the age of 25, our language has usually given us many assumptions about the nature of the
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world.
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</p>
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<p>
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Verbal formulations of one sort are given up for new verbal formulations, in the process called education.
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Sometimes graduate students seem to have lost all common sense. It's as if their hard-drive had been
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reformatted to allow their professors to download onto it. But common sense, usually, is just what Einstein
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called it, an accumulation of prejudices.
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</p>
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<p>
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Children learn language so easily that many people have seriously believed that a certain language was
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inherited by people of each ethnic group. Bilingual people were thought to be intellectually inferior
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(though it turned out that bilingualism actually increases a person's mental abilities--possibly because of
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the brain development known to be produced by learning1.) Eventually, people learned that the children of
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immigrants were as capable of learning the language of the new country as the native children were.
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</p>
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<p>
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Then, explaining the mystery of language learning took a new form, that didn't seem foolish to most
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professional anthropologists and linguists. The first and most important step in the new theory was to
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declare that simple learning theory was inadequate to explain the development of language. Language
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developed, just as the silly racial theory had thought, out of our genetic endowment, except that what we
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inherited was now said to be a Universal Language, with its Universal Rules embedded in our chromosomes.
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Then, the speed with which children learn language was to be explained as the "innateness" of all of the
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complex stuff of language, with only a few things needing to be actually learned--those minor details that
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distinguish English from Eskimo or Zapotec.
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</p>
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<p>
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Although the phrase "genetic epistemology" was coined by Jean Piaget, a major philosophical and scientific
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theme of the 20th century has been the idea that the "forms" of knowledge, for perceiving space, or logical
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relations, or language patterns, are derived from our genes, and that they are somehow built into the
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arrangement of our brain cells so that we spontaneously think in certain ways, and don't have the capacity
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to transcend the nature of our inherited brain. In that view, children have their own pre-logical way of
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thinking, and their thought (and language development) must proceed through certain stages, each governed by
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some "structural" process in the nervous system. The only thing wrong with the idea of innate knowledge is
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that people use it to tell us what we can't know, in other words, to rationalize stupidity. Of course, they
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wouldn't like to phrase it that way, because they consider their "genetic epistemology of symbolic forms" to
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be the essence and the totality of intelligence, and that people who allow their thoughts to be structured
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entirely by experience are just confused.
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</p>
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<p>
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Years ago, I had been criticizing Noam Chomsky's theory of language so much, that I thought I might have
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misjudged or inappropriately depreciated his general attitude toward consciousness, so I asked him some
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questions about the intelligence of animals. His response confirmed my view that he subscribed to the most
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extreme form of "genetic epistemology":
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</p>
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<p>
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"I don't know whether there is a common animal ability to manipulate images and generalize. In fact, I doubt
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it very much. Thus the kind of "generalization" that leads to knowledge of lanugage from sensory experience
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seems to me to involve principles such as those of universal grammar as an innate property, for reasons I
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have explained elsewhere, and I see no reason to believe that these principles underlie generalization in
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other animals. Nor do I think that the kinds of generalization that lead a bird to gain knowledge of how to
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build a nest, or to sing its song, or to orient itself spatially, are necessarily part of the human ability
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to generalize."
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</p>
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<p>
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All of the textbooks that I have seen that discuss the issue of animal intelligence have taken a position
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like that of Chomsky--that any knowledge animals have is either rigidly instinctual, or else is just a set
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of movements that have been mechanically learned. In other words, there isn't anything intelligent about the
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complex things that animals may do. Konrad Lorenz and the ethologists explained animal behavior in terms of
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chains of reflexes that are "triggered" by certain sensations or perceptions. This claim that animals'
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behavior just consists of mechanical chains of reflexes strictly follows Descartes' doctrine, and Chomsky
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has consistently acknowledged that his theory is Cartesian. The claim that children have their own
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non-logical way of understanding things is very similar to the doctrine about animals, in the way it limits
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real rational understanding to adult human beings.
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</p>
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<p>
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The awareness of young animals is particularly impressive to me, because we know the short time they have
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had in which to learn about the world. Any instance in which a young animal understands a completely novel
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situation, in a way that is fully adequate and workable, demonstrates that it is capable of intellectual
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generalization.
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</p>
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<p>
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Beyond that, I think animal inventiveness can teach us about our own capacity for inventiveness, which both
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the genetic and the behaviorist theories of knowledge totally fail to explain.
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</p>
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<p>
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Spiders that build architecturally beautiful webs have been favorite subjects for theorizing about the
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instinctive mechanisms of behavior. When spiders were sent up on an orbiting satellite, they were in a
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situation that spiders had never experienced before. Spiders have always taken advantage of gravity for
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building their webs, and at first, the orbiting spiders made strange little muddled arrangements of
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filaments, but after just a few attempts, they were able to build exactly the same sort of elegant
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structures that spiders normally build. (My interpretation of that was that spiders may be more intelligent
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than most neurobiologists.)
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</p>
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<p>
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Nesting birds often swoop at people or animals who get too close to their nest. Early last summer, I had
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noticed some blue jays that seemed to be acting defensive whenever I went into one part of the yard. On a
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very hot day at the end of summer, a couple of plump jays were squawking and apparently trying to get my
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attention while I was watering the front yard, and I idly wondered why they would be acting that way so late
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in the year. I had gone around the house to water things in the back yard, and the birds came over the
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house, and were still squawking, and trying to get my attention. I realized that their excitement didn't
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have anything to do with their nest, and looking more carefully, I saw that they were young birds. As it
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dawned on me that they were interested in the water squirting out of the hose, I aimed the stream up towards
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them, and they got as close to it as they could. Since the force of the stream might have hurt them, I put
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on a nozzle that made a finer spray, and the birds immediately came down to the lowest tip of the branch,
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where they could get the full force of the mist, holding out their wings, and leaning into the spray so that
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it ruffled their breast feathers. Their persistence had finally paid off when they got me to understand what
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they wanted, and they were enjoying the cool water. As new young birds, I don't know how they understood
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hoses and squirting water, but it was clear that they recognized me as a potentially intelligent being with
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whom they could communicate.
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</p>
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<p>
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For a person, that wouldn't have seemed like a tremendously inventive response to the hot weather, but for
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young birds that hadn't been out of the nest for long, it made it clear to me that there is more inventive
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intelligence in the world than is apparent to most academic psychologists and ethologists.
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</p>
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<p>
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Early porpoise researchers were surprised when a porpoise understood a sequence in which one tone was
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followed by two, and then by three, and answered by producing a series of four tones. The porpoise had
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discovered that people knew how to count.
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</p>
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<p>
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Experiments with bees show the same sort of understanding of numbers and intentions. An experimenter set out
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dishes of honey in a sequence, doubling the distance each time. After the first three dishes had been found
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by scouts, the bees showed up at the fourth location before the honey arrived, extrapolating from the
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experimenter's previous behavior and inferring his intentions.
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</p>
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<p>
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Once I noticed that an ant seemed to be dozing at the base of every maple leaf, and that there were several
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aphids on each leaf. I was getting very close, trying to understand why the ant was sitting so quietly.
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Apparently my odor gave the ant a start, and he leaped into activity, racing up the leaf, and giving each
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aphid a tap as he passed. When he had reached the end of the leaf and had touched every aphid, his agitation
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suddenly disappeared, and he returned to his spot at the base of the leaf. Although I knew that ants could
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count very well, as demonstrated by experiments in which an ant had to describe a complex route to a dish of
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honey, it was the apparent emotion that interested me. It reminded me of the hostess who counted her dishes
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before the guests left.
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</p>
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<p>
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When the brains of such different kinds of animal work in such similar ways, in situations that contain many
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new components, I don't think it's possible to conclude anything except that intelligence is a common
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property of animals, and that it comprises "generalization" and much more. It's obvious that they grasp the
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situation in a realistic way. The situation has structured their awareness. Some people might say that they
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have "modeled the situation in their mind," but it's enough to say that they understand what's going on.
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With that understanding, motivations and intentions form part of the perception, since the situation is a
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developing process. Ordinarily, we say that we "infer" motivations and intentions and "deduce" probable
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outcomes, but that implies that the situation is static, rather than continuous with its origin and outcome.
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In reality, these understandings and expectations are part of the direct perception. It isn't a matter of
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"intelligence" operating upon "sensations," but of intelligence inhering in the grasping of the situation.
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(In Latin, <strong><em>intelligo</em></strong>
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meant "I perceive." I suspect that a Roman might have perceived the word <strong><em>intelligens</em
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></strong> as being derived from roots such as <strong><em>tele</em></strong>--from Greek, or <strong
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>tela,</strong> web, warp thread--and <strong><em>
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ligo or lego</em></strong>, connoting the binding in or gathering of what is distant or extended.)
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</p>
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<p>
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This view of a generalized animal intelligence wouldn't seem strange, except that the history of official
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western philosophy, the doctrine of genetic determinism in biology, and the habits that form with the rigid
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uses of language, have offered another way of looking at it. The simple intelligence of an animal would
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disrupt all of that important stuff, so it has become mandatory to dismiss all examples of intelligent
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behavior by animals as "mere anthropomorphizing." Sadly, this has also meant that most intelligent behavior
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by humans has also been dismissed.
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</p>
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<p>
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The cellular development of an organism used to be described as a process in which everything is
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predetermined by the genes, but the interactions between an embryo and its environment are now known to be
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crucial in shaping the process of maturation, so that the real organism (the phenotype) doesn't necessarily
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reflect its genetic make-up (genotype); the term "phenocopy" acknowledges this process.
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</p>
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<p>
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London taxi drivers were recently found to have an enlargement of part of the hippocampus, compared to the
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brains of other people, and the difference was greater, in proportion to the time they had been driving
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taxis. Their brains have been shaped by their activities.
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</p>
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<p>
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If the brain's cellular anatomy is so radically affected by activity even in adulthood, then the concept of
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awareness as a process in which consciousness takes its form from the situation shouldn't be problematic. If
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a bee and a porpoise can draw similar conclusions from similar experiences, then the world is being grasped
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by both in an objective way.
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</p>
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<p>
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The environment shapes the organism's response, and the momentary response contributes to the development of
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the supporting processes and apparatuses. So the ability to respond is the basic question. If the richly
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grasped situation contains its own implications, there is no need for explaining the ability to perceive
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those implications in terms of some prearranged neurological code, except for the ability to respond
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complexly and appropriately. Any specific interpretation or behavior which is predetermined is going to
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function as an impediment to understanding. Verbal formulations often have the function of creating a
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stereotyped and inappropriate response.
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</p>
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<p>
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The "genetic epistemologists" confuse their own verbal interpretations with the real ways that understanding
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develops, and when a child doesn't yet know all of the connotations of a specific word, the psychologist
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ascribes a pre-logical brain function to the child.3 The similar failure to perceive and to communicate
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accounts for the foolish things ethologists have said about animal intelligence.
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</p>
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<p>
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The process in which an organism responds to a situation is continuous with the process of communication.
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The organism understands that in certain situations a response can be elicited, and so it acts accordingly.
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</p>
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<p>
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Communication is a response that is directed toward eliciting a response from another. The idea that an
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animal might have an intention, or a desire to communicate or respond, has been obsessively denied by most
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official western philosophers, who see that as a uniquely human quality, but some philosophers have even
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denied that quality to humans. For them, consciousness is a passive receptacle for units of meaning and
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logic, like a mail bin at the post-office, where letters are received, sorted, and distributed. Maybe
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computers work that way, but there is nothing in living substance that works like that.
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</p>
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<p>
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Consciousness is participation, in the sense that there is a response of an organism to events. Even dreams
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and hallucinations have their implied reference to something real.
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</p>
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<p>
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If a violin has been soaked in water, it will sound very odd when it's played. Its various parts won't
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resonate properly. Similarly, the living substance has to be in a particular state to resonate properly with
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its environment.
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</p>
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<p>
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People have proposed that visual experience involves the luminescence of nerves in the optical system.
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Presumably, similar analogs of events could occur in various tissues when we are conscious of sounds,
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tastes, smells, etc. But whether or not our auditory nerves are singing when we experience music, no one
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questions the existence of some sort of responsive activity when we are being conscious of something.
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Activating certain brain areas will make us conscious of certain things, and that activation can be a
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response to sensory nerve impulses, or to brain chemicals produced in dreaming or drug-induced
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hallucinations, or to electrical stimulation, or to the act of remembering.
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</p>
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<p>
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The history of the prefrontal leukotomy or lobotomy, in which undesirable behaviors were surgically removed,
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was closely associated with the development of surgical treatments for epilepsy.
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</p>
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<p>
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Natalya Bekhtereva was exploring alternative treatments for epilepsy, implanting fine wire electrodes into
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the abnormal parts of the brain, and surrounding areas, to discover the nature of the electrical events that
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were associated with the seizures. In the process, she discovered that meanings and intentions corresponded
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to particular electrical patterns. She found that giving certain kinds of stimulation to healthy parts of
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the brain could stimulate the development of ways of functioning that by-passed the seizure-prone parts of
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the brain. Extending this, seeing that creating new patterns of nervous activity could overcome sickness,
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she proposed that creativity, the activation of the brain in new ways, would itself be therapeutic. Some
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people, such as Stanislav Grof, advocated the therapeutic use of LSD with a rationale that seems similar,
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for example to overcome chronic pain by changing its meaning, putting it into a different relation to the
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rest of experience. "In general, psychedelic therapy seems to be most effective in the treatment of
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alcoholics, narcotic-drug addicts, depressed patients, and individuals dying of cancer." 2 Since LSD shifts
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the balance away from serotonin dominance toward dopamine dominance, its effect can be to erase the habits
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of learned helplessness. Stress and pain also leave their residue in the endorphin system, and the
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anti-opiates such as naloxone can relieve depression, improve memory, and restore disturbed pituitary
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functions, for example leading to the restoration of menstrual rhythms interrupted by stress or aging. The
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amazing speed with which young animals can solve problems is undoubtedly a reflection of their metabolic
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vigor, and it is probably partly because they haven't yet experienced the paralysis that can result from
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repeated or prolonged and inescapable stress. Many of the factors responsible for the metabolic intensity of
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youth can be used therapeutically, even after dullness has developed. The right balance of amino acids and
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carbohydrates, and the avoidance of the antimetabolic unsaturated fatty acids, can make a great difference
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in mental functioning, even though we still don't know what the ideal formulas are.
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</p>
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<p>
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While chemical -- nutritional -- hormonal approaches can help to restore creativity, the work of people like
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Bekhtereva shows that the exercise of creativity can help to restore biochemical and physiological systems
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to more normal functioning. Learning new general principles or new languages can be creatively restorative.
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</p>
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<p><h3>NOTES AND REFERENCES</h3></p>
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<p>
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1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2000 Apr 11;97(8):4398-403. Navigation-related structural change in the
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hippocampi of taxi drivers. Maguire EA, Gadian DG, Johnsrude IS, Good CD, Ashburner J, Frackowiak RS, Frith
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CD. Structural MRIs of the brains of humans with extensive navigation experience, licensed London taxi
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drivers, were analyzed and compared with those of control subjects who did not drive taxis. The posterior
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hippocampi of taxi drivers were significantly larger relative to those of control subjects. A more anterior
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hippocampal region was larger in control subjects than in taxi drivers. Hippocampal volume correlated with
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the amount of time spent as a taxi driver (positively in the posterior and negatively in the anterior
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hippocampus). These data are in accordance with the idea that the posterior hippocampus stores a spatial
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representation of the environment and can expand regionally to accommodate elaboration of this
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representation in people with a high dependence on navigational skills. It seems that there is a capacity
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for local plastic change in the structure of the healthy adult human brain in response to environmental
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demands.
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</p>
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<p>
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2. ("History of LSD Therapy," Stanislav Grof, M.D. Chapter 1 of LSD Psychotherapy, "1980, 1994 by Stanislav
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Grof. Hunter House Publishers, Alameda, California, ISBN 0-89793-158-0).
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</p>
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<p>
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3. There is an example of this argument about the nature of reasoning in New Scientist magazine, December 9,
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2000. P. Johnson-Laird found that more than 99% of Princeton University students were unable to solve a
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logical puzzle correctly. Ira Noveck of the Claude Bernard University in Lyon believes this may result
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simply from people's difficulty interpreting the language of the puzzles.
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</p>
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<p>
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Fiziol Cheloveka 2000 Mar-Apr;26(2):5-9 [The cerebral organization of creativity. I. The development of a
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psychological test]. Starchenko MG, Vorob'ev VA, Kliucharev VA, Bekhtereva NP, Medevedev SV.
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</p>
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<p>
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Fiziol Cheloveka 1998 Jul-Aug;24(4):55-63 [Brain processing of visually presented verbal stimuli at
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different levels of their integration. II. The orthographic and syntactic aspects]. Vorob'ev VA, Korotkov
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AD, Pakhomov SV, Rozhdestvenskii DG, Rudas MS, Bekhtereva NP, Medvedev SV.
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</p>
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<p>
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Neurosci Behav Physiol 1986 Jul-Aug; 16(4):333-9 The systemic approach to the stability and plasticity of
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neurophysiological processes during adaptive brain activity. Vasilevskii VN The problem of the stability and
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adaptability of regulatory processes is considered, taking as a point of departure N. P. Bekhtereva's theory
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regarding stable pathological states, and inflexible and adaptable links in control systems. The need to
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introduce a probabilistic approach is emphasized. Generalizations are made on materials relating to the
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connectability of the separate components of the biorhythms of functional systems, and to the stability of
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their amplitude-frequency characteristics. The corpus of facts permitted the successful development in
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clinical practice of functional biocontrol and feedback.
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</p>
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<p>
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Neurosci Behav Physiol 1986 Jul-Aug; 16(4):322-33. A study of the connectedness among distant neuronal
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populations in the human brain during mental activity. Bekhtereva NP, Medvedev SV, Krol EM In this article,
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we present the results of a study of connectedness among distant neuronal populations in human deep-brain
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structures. The time characteristics involved and the stability of the connections between different
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neuronal populations during monotonous mental activity are discussed. We show that a stable connectedness
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does correlate with mental activity; however, the connections themselves do not correlate with one another.
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We also show that the individual connections, the elements of the system which make mental activity
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possible, can function with various degrees of rigidity or flexibility.
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</p>
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<p>
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Dokl Akad Nauk SSSR 1986;289(5):1276-80 [Physiologic role of changes in the human neuron discharge rate
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during a single mental act]. Bekhtereva NP, Gogolitsyn IuL, Pakhomov SV.
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</p>
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<p>
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Dokl Akad Nauk SSSR 1985;285(5):1233-5 [Neurons-detectors of errors in subcortical structures of human
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brain]. Bekhtereva NP, Kropotov IuD, Ponomarev VA.
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</p>
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<p>
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Neurosci Behav Physiol 1985 Jan-Feb;15(1):27-32 Bioelectrical correlates of protective mechanisms of the
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brain. Bekhtereva NP.
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</p>
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<p>
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Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1984 Aug;70(8):1092-9 [Neurochemical aspects of therapeutic electric
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stimulation]. Bekhtereva NP, Dambinova SA, Gurchin FA, Smirnov VM, Korol'kov AV. Comparative analysis of the
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CSF and blood protein-peptide composition in Parkinsonian patients performed with the aid of indwelled
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electrodes prior to and after therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES) of the brain subcortical structures,
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revealed a therapeutic effect in the form of reduced muscular rigidity and a mental activation with a
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positive emotional response. After the TES the protein content in the biological fluids tended to become
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normalized and the the range of low-molecular protein-peptide fractions changed. A high-performance liquid
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chromatography, bidimensional electrophoresis and thin-layer chromatography revealed about 5-6 factors of
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peptide nature with the molecular mass less than 5000 daltons in the CSF and blood after the TES. These
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factors were shown to exert a biological effect upon muscle preparation of the leech.
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</p>
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<p>
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Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1984 Jul;70(7):892-903 [Relationships of distantly located neuronal
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populations in the human brain in the realization of the thinking process]. Bekhtereva NP, Medvedev SV,
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|
Krol' EM The time characteristics of the interneuronal connections as well as interrelationships among
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distant neuronal populations of the human brain deep structures were studied during monotonous mental
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|
activity. It was shown that stable interrelationships could be considered as a correlate of mental activity
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|
though the connections themselves were not of the correlative nature. These connections, being the elements
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|
of the activity--maintaining system, could be of various degree of rigidity.
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</p>
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<p>
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Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1984 Jul;70(7):881-91 [Reflection of the semantic characteristics of the
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|
thinking process in the impulse activity of neurons]. Bekhtereva NP The paper deals with the progress in
|
|
research into the problem of reflection of semantic characteristics of psychological tests in impulse
|
|
activity of neurons and neuronal assemblies. The high dynamicity of brain correlates of thinking in most
|
|
brain zones is stressed. Advantages and limits of different technical approaches as well as the most urgent
|
|
tasks to be solved are discussed.
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|
</p>
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|
<p>
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Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1984 Jul;70(7):1071-5 [Natal'ia Petrovna Bekhtereva]. Iliukhina VA Biography
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|
</p>
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|
<p>
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|
Hum Physiol 1982 Sep-Oct;8(5):303-16 Cerebral organization of emotional reactions and states. Bekhtereva NP,
|
|
Kambarova DK, Ivanov GG
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|
</p>
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|
<p>
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|
Zh Nevropatol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 1980;80(8):1127-33 [Bioelectric correlates of the brain's
|
|
protective mechanisms]. Bekhtereva NP The author substantiates the necessity of searching for new means
|
|
producing a therapeutic effect on the brain of epileptic patients that would be similar, in principle, to
|
|
the brain's own protective mechanisms. This can be done, in the author's opinion, on the basis of studying
|
|
the most probable bioelectric equivalents of the protective mechanisms. The author suggests a new method for
|
|
suppressing the epileptogenic focus. This suppression, close to the physiological one, is effected by
|
|
applying a weak sinusoidal current to the focus via intracerebrally implanted electrodes. Data on the
|
|
suppression of the epileptiform activity within the zone of the current application, as well as data
|
|
confirming the local character of the current action are presented. The place of the new method in the
|
|
system of complex therapy, particularly of epilepsy, is determined with consideration of the role of the
|
|
stable pathological state. Probable neurophysiological mechanisms of the sinusoidal current action on the
|
|
epileptogenic focus are discussed.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Vestn Akad Med Nauk SSSR 1979;(7):30-7 [Potentials of neurophysiology in the study of a resistant
|
|
pathological state]. Bekhtereva NP
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Act Nerv Super (Praha) 1976;18(3):157-67 The neurophysiological code of simplest mental processes in man.
|
|
Bekhtereva NP
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Vestn Akad Med Nauk SSSR 1975;(8):8-19 [Cerebral organization of human emotions]. Bekhtereva NP, Smirnov VM
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1973 Dec;59(12):1785-802 [Principles of the organization of the structure of
|
|
the space-time code of short-term verbal memory]. Bekhtereva NP, Bundzen PV, Kaidel VD, David EE.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Vopr Neirokhir 1972 Jan-Feb;36(1):7-12 [Therapeutic electric stimulation of deep brain structures].
|
|
Bekhtereva NP, Bondarchuk AN, Smirnov VM, Meliucheva LA
|
|
</p>
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|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Vestn Akad Med Nauk SSSR 1972;27(9):43-9 [Principles of functional organization of the human brain].
|
|
[Article in Russian] Bekhtereva NP.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1971 Dec;57(12):1745-61 [Functional reorganization of the activity of human
|
|
brain neuron populations during short-term verbal memory]. Bekhtereva NP, Bundzen PV, Matveev IuK,
|
|
Kaplunovskii AS
|
|
</p>
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|
<p>
|
|
From a biography by the Archives Jean Piaget: "His researches in developmental psychology and genetic
|
|
epistemology had one unique goal: how does knowledge grow? His answer is that the growth of knowledge is a
|
|
progressive construction of logically embedded structures superseding one another by a process of inclusion
|
|
of lower less powerful logical means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. Therefore,
|
|
children's logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults."
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</p>
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© Ray Peat Ph.D. 2009. All Rights Reserved. www.RayPeat.com
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