The Happiness of Pursuit: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About the Good Life (30 page)
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Authors: Shimon Edelman
BOOK: The Happiness of Pursuit: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About the Good Life
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.1
The only one described in
The Iliad
as “HAPPY,” and then too in the past tense, is Priam, the king of Troy and the father of Hector. While allowing Priam to take the body of Hector back to Troy for a burial, Achilles says, “And you too, O Priam, I have heard that you were aforetime happy. They say that in wealth and plenitude of offspring you surpassed all that is in Lesbos, the realm of Makar to the northward, Phrygia that is more inland, and those that dwell upon the great Hellespont; but from the day when the dwellers in heaven sent this evil upon you, war and slaughter have been about your city continually” (Book XXIV).
The only one described in
The Iliad
as “HAPPY,” and then too in the past tense, is Priam, the king of Troy and the father of Hector. While allowing Priam to take the body of Hector back to Troy for a burial, Achilles says, “And you too, O Priam, I have heard that you were aforetime happy. They say that in wealth and plenitude of offspring you surpassed all that is in Lesbos, the realm of Makar to the northward, Phrygia that is more inland, and those that dwell upon the great Hellespont; but from the day when the dwellers in heaven sent this evil upon you, war and slaughter have been about your city continually” (Book XXIV).
2
For a discussion of the “cosmological and ideological aspects” of the SHIELD OF ACHILLES, see Philip Hardie’s paper, “Imago Mundi” (1985). If you are visiting from another planet and have not yet made up your mind what to think of this one, don’t read W. H. Auden’s poem “The Shield of Achilles” just yet.
For a discussion of the “cosmological and ideological aspects” of the SHIELD OF ACHILLES, see Philip Hardie’s paper, “Imago Mundi” (1985). If you are visiting from another planet and have not yet made up your mind what to think of this one, don’t read W. H. Auden’s poem “The Shield of Achilles” just yet.
3
Ovid,
Metamorphoses,
Book XIII, 299–336.
Ovid,
Metamorphoses,
Book XIII, 299–336.
4
As noted in
The Principles of Psychology
(James 1890, p. 608), William James borrowed the expression “SPECIOUS PRESENT” from E. R. Clay.
As noted in
The Principles of Psychology
(James 1890, p. 608), William James borrowed the expression “SPECIOUS PRESENT” from E. R. Clay.
5
The MIRROR OF GALADRIEL scene is from
The Lord of the Rings
:
The Fellowship of the Ring
(Tolkien 1954, p. 469). One might guess that it reflects Tolkien’s sensibilities as a Catholic; the issue of free will (which is more complex than people tend to think; for a modern treatment, see Wegner 2004 and Edelman 2008a, ch. 10) crops up in many other places in his work.
The MIRROR OF GALADRIEL scene is from
The Lord of the Rings
:
The Fellowship of the Ring
(Tolkien 1954, p. 469). One might guess that it reflects Tolkien’s sensibilities as a Catholic; the issue of free will (which is more complex than people tend to think; for a modern treatment, see Wegner 2004 and Edelman 2008a, ch. 10) crops up in many other places in his work.
6
The ASSIMILATION of epigenetic information into the genome is explained in Jablonka and Lamb (2005).
The ASSIMILATION of epigenetic information into the genome is explained in Jablonka and Lamb (2005).
7
Matteo Mameli and Patrick Bateson (2006) considered twenty-six different candidates for a scientific successor to the folk concept of INNATENESS and found none to be problem-free.
Matteo Mameli and Patrick Bateson (2006) considered twenty-six different candidates for a scientific successor to the folk concept of INNATENESS and found none to be problem-free.
8
For some examples of the role of IMMEDIATE EARLY GENE expression in neural information processing, see Davis, Bozon, and Laroche (2003), Deisseroth et al. (2003), and Mayer, Watanabe, and Bischof (2010).
For some examples of the role of IMMEDIATE EARLY GENE expression in neural information processing, see Davis, Bozon, and Laroche (2003), Deisseroth et al. (2003), and Mayer, Watanabe, and Bischof (2010).
9
The CO-CONSTRUCTION OF THE ECOLOGICAL NICHE by its denizens is a central theme in Jablonka and Lamb (2005). For humans, important aspects of the niche are social; Drew Bailey and David Geary (2009) compare social competition to other factors in human evolution. The nature of the interaction of a species with its environment (including competition with its neighbors) is such that the ultimate challenge presented by the ecosphere to a species is open-ended—that is, it cannot be stated once and for all ahead of time (Clayton and Kauffman 2006).
The CO-CONSTRUCTION OF THE ECOLOGICAL NICHE by its denizens is a central theme in Jablonka and Lamb (2005). For humans, important aspects of the niche are social; Drew Bailey and David Geary (2009) compare social competition to other factors in human evolution. The nature of the interaction of a species with its environment (including competition with its neighbors) is such that the ultimate challenge presented by the ecosphere to a species is open-ended—that is, it cannot be stated once and for all ahead of time (Clayton and Kauffman 2006).
10
The local synaptic LEARNING rule based on joint statistics of the activities of pre- and postsynaptic neurons was first envisaged by Donald Hebb in
The Organization of Behavior
(1949). Modern formulations focus on Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP) (Caporale and Dan 2008). Learning (of the kind afforded by such synaptic processes) supports the acquisition of novel behaviors in a variety of species, including gulls, who learn to drop clams onto hard surfaces to shatter them (Barash, Donovan, and Myrick 1975; Maron 1982), and New Caledonian crows, who can learn how to turn a piece of wire into a simple tool for extracting food out of a tight space (Hunt and Gray 2003). In humans, virtually all specific dispositions and behaviors are learned; among the few exceptions is the tendency to selectively associate snakes with fear (but not fear of snakes as such; DeLoache and LoBue 2009).
The local synaptic LEARNING rule based on joint statistics of the activities of pre- and postsynaptic neurons was first envisaged by Donald Hebb in
The Organization of Behavior
(1949). Modern formulations focus on Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP) (Caporale and Dan 2008). Learning (of the kind afforded by such synaptic processes) supports the acquisition of novel behaviors in a variety of species, including gulls, who learn to drop clams onto hard surfaces to shatter them (Barash, Donovan, and Myrick 1975; Maron 1982), and New Caledonian crows, who can learn how to turn a piece of wire into a simple tool for extracting food out of a tight space (Hunt and Gray 2003). In humans, virtually all specific dispositions and behaviors are learned; among the few exceptions is the tendency to selectively associate snakes with fear (but not fear of snakes as such; DeLoache and LoBue 2009).
11
Paz, Gelbard-Sagiv, Mukamel, Harel, Malacha, and Fried (2010) recorded the activity of individual neurons in the HIPPOCAMPUS, an area of the brain implicated in navigation and in memory for locations and for sequences, while their human subjects viewed repeated runs of cinematic episodes. They found that within two to three presentations of an episode neuronal activity in a given time window became a faithful predictor of the activity to follow. The function of the hippocampus will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
Paz, Gelbard-Sagiv, Mukamel, Harel, Malacha, and Fried (2010) recorded the activity of individual neurons in the HIPPOCAMPUS, an area of the brain implicated in navigation and in memory for locations and for sequences, while their human subjects viewed repeated runs of cinematic episodes. They found that within two to three presentations of an episode neuronal activity in a given time window became a faithful predictor of the activity to follow. The function of the hippocampus will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
12
The discovery that rats are capable of taking shortcuts through unfamiliar territory to get from one familiar place to another is due to Edward Tolman (1948), who hypothesized that this ability is supported by a kind of COGNITIVE MAP. Blind mole rats too turned out to be capable of shortcut-taking (Avni, Tzvaigrach, and Eilam 2008). The view of the hippocampus as a cognitive map (O’Keefe and Nadel 1978) has been an important precursor of the modern theory that interprets its main function as that of EPISODIC AND SEQUENCE MEMORY (Iglói et al. 2010; Wood et al. 2000).
The discovery that rats are capable of taking shortcuts through unfamiliar territory to get from one familiar place to another is due to Edward Tolman (1948), who hypothesized that this ability is supported by a kind of COGNITIVE MAP. Blind mole rats too turned out to be capable of shortcut-taking (Avni, Tzvaigrach, and Eilam 2008). The view of the hippocampus as a cognitive map (O’Keefe and Nadel 1978) has been an important precursor of the modern theory that interprets its main function as that of EPISODIC AND SEQUENCE MEMORY (Iglói et al. 2010; Wood et al. 2000).
13
Concerning the role of location in word learning, Stephen Hockema and Linda Smith (2009, p. 471) write: “It seems that infants can build up strong associations between an object and its spatial location to the point where the spatial location can act as a surrogate for the object in labeling. (What is especially noteworthy about this is that the external binding through space seems to be developmentally essential for this progress to more complicated forms of binding to be made that no longer use space.) The point is this: Our environment has a consistent spatial structure, and our cognitive processes will make use of that regularity.” More generally, the involvement of the HIPPOCAMPUS IN LANGUAGE PROCESSING is suggested by the finding that verbal shadowing (a test condition in which the subject is required to repeat aloud a stream of utterances heard through earphones) interferes with way-finding (Meilinger, Knauff, and Bülthoff 2008).
Concerning the role of location in word learning, Stephen Hockema and Linda Smith (2009, p. 471) write: “It seems that infants can build up strong associations between an object and its spatial location to the point where the spatial location can act as a surrogate for the object in labeling. (What is especially noteworthy about this is that the external binding through space seems to be developmentally essential for this progress to more complicated forms of binding to be made that no longer use space.) The point is this: Our environment has a consistent spatial structure, and our cognitive processes will make use of that regularity.” More generally, the involvement of the HIPPOCAMPUS IN LANGUAGE PROCESSING is suggested by the finding that verbal shadowing (a test condition in which the subject is required to repeat aloud a stream of utterances heard through earphones) interferes with way-finding (Meilinger, Knauff, and Bülthoff 2008).
14
Mike Colombo and Nicola Broadbent (2000) have documented the involvement of the avian HIPPOCAMPUS IN SPATIAL TASKS. Both in food-caching birds (on chickadees, see Smulders, Sasson, and DeVoogd 1995) and in humans who are required to perform certain complex navigation tasks (such as driving a cab around London; see Maguire et al. 2000), the volume of hippocampal tissue correlates with the level of functioning. Interestingly, London bus drivers, who navigate the same labyrinthine city but adhere to fixed routes, do not exhibit the same correlation between hippocampal volume and employment duration as taxi drivers.
Mike Colombo and Nicola Broadbent (2000) have documented the involvement of the avian HIPPOCAMPUS IN SPATIAL TASKS. Both in food-caching birds (on chickadees, see Smulders, Sasson, and DeVoogd 1995) and in humans who are required to perform certain complex navigation tasks (such as driving a cab around London; see Maguire et al. 2000), the volume of hippocampal tissue correlates with the level of functioning. Interestingly, London bus drivers, who navigate the same labyrinthine city but adhere to fixed routes, do not exhibit the same correlation between hippocampal volume and employment duration as taxi drivers.
15
The involvement of the hippocampus in MENTAL TIME-TRAVEL into the (imagined) future is indicated by the inability of patients with hippocampal lesions to imagine new experience (Hassabis et al. 2007).
The involvement of the hippocampus in MENTAL TIME-TRAVEL into the (imagined) future is indicated by the inability of patients with hippocampal lesions to imagine new experience (Hassabis et al. 2007).
16
The study of EPISODIC AND PROSPECTIVE MEMORY in scrub jays described here was performed by Caroline Raby and her colleagues (2007). Uri Grodzinski and Nicola Clayton (2010, p. 983), who replicated those results, write: “The jays’ remarkable ability to switch after only one trial to caching the food they are currently sated on (i.e., against current motivation) suggests that caching is inherently directed towards needs that will be present at the future time of recovery.”
The study of EPISODIC AND PROSPECTIVE MEMORY in scrub jays described here was performed by Caroline Raby and her colleagues (2007). Uri Grodzinski and Nicola Clayton (2010, p. 983), who replicated those results, write: “The jays’ remarkable ability to switch after only one trial to caching the food they are currently sated on (i.e., against current motivation) suggests that caching is inherently directed towards needs that will be present at the future time of recovery.”
17
James Russell, Dean Alexis, and Nicola Clayton (2010) report the gradual DEVELOPMENT OF PROSPECTION in young children.
James Russell, Dean Alexis, and Nicola Clayton (2010) report the gradual DEVELOPMENT OF PROSPECTION in young children.
18
The kind of training that can help reduce mind-wandering is MINDFULNESS MEDITATION (Baer 2003; Davidson 2010).
The kind of training that can help reduce mind-wandering is MINDFULNESS MEDITATION (Baer 2003; Davidson 2010).
19
From Dante,
The Divine Comedy: Inferno
, canto V, line 121:
From Dante,
The Divine Comedy: Inferno
, canto V, line 121:
Nessun maggior dolore
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria.
20
From the Robert Fitzgerald translation of
The Odyssey
(Homer 1998), book XV, lines 487–489. A similar sentiment is voiced by the long-suffering hero of Virgil’s
Aeneid
, the Trojan exile who goes on to become the forefather of Rome. It is also shared by John Keats, who wrote: “Do you not see how necessary a World of Pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul!” (from a letter to George and Georgiana Keats, February 14–May 3, 1819, reprinted in Strachan 2003).
From the Robert Fitzgerald translation of
The Odyssey
(Homer 1998), book XV, lines 487–489. A similar sentiment is voiced by the long-suffering hero of Virgil’s
Aeneid
, the Trojan exile who goes on to become the forefather of Rome. It is also shared by John Keats, who wrote: “Do you not see how necessary a World of Pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul!” (from a letter to George and Georgiana Keats, February 14–May 3, 1819, reprinted in Strachan 2003).
21
For an empirical comparison of the HEDONIC value of material and experiential goods, see Nicolao, Irwin, and Goodman (2009) and Van Boven and Gilovich (2003).
For an empirical comparison of the HEDONIC value of material and experiential goods, see Nicolao, Irwin, and Goodman (2009) and Van Boven and Gilovich (2003).
22
C. P. Cavafy,
Collected Poems
. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992.
NOTES TO CHAPTER 5C. P. Cavafy,
Collected Poems
. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992.
1
The vole findings are by Young and Wang (2004). More generally, the core of a SOCIAL BEHAVIOR NETWORK comprises six areas in the basal forebrain and midbrain. This network has been implicated in the control of “aggression, appetitive and consummatory sexual behavior, various forms of communication, social recognition, affiliation, bonding, parental behavior, and responses to social stressors” (Goodson 2005, p. 12).
The vole findings are by Young and Wang (2004). More generally, the core of a SOCIAL BEHAVIOR NETWORK comprises six areas in the basal forebrain and midbrain. This network has been implicated in the control of “aggression, appetitive and consummatory sexual behavior, various forms of communication, social recognition, affiliation, bonding, parental behavior, and responses to social stressors” (Goodson 2005, p. 12).
2
The word
MEME
originated in
The Selfish Gene
(Dawkins 1976).
The word
MEME
originated in
The Selfish Gene
(Dawkins 1976).
3
The criteria for deciding whether a piece of information qualifies as a MEME, such as
cui bono
(“who benefits”), are discussed by Daniel Dennett (1995). In this connection, it is worth noting that a gene is a kind of meme. Unlike genes, however, memes are both carriers of information and traits (Jablonka and Lamb 2005).
The criteria for deciding whether a piece of information qualifies as a MEME, such as
cui bono
(“who benefits”), are discussed by Daniel Dennett (1995). In this connection, it is worth noting that a gene is a kind of meme. Unlike genes, however, memes are both carriers of information and traits (Jablonka and Lamb 2005).
4
With regard to the CALVINIST VIEWS ON HAPPINESS, J. R. Beeke (2004, p. 137) remarks that “self-denial helps us find true happiness.” This stance often gets Calvinism a special mention in happiness literature (see, for example, Veenhoven 1994).
With regard to the CALVINIST VIEWS ON HAPPINESS, J. R. Beeke (2004, p. 137) remarks that “self-denial helps us find true happiness.” This stance often gets Calvinism a special mention in happiness literature (see, for example, Veenhoven 1994).
5
From the computational standpoint, IMITATION is not as straightforward as it may seem (see Edelman 2008a, ch. 6). The cumulative evolution of tool manufacture in New Caledonian crows has been studied by Gavin Hunt and Russell Gray (2003).
From the computational standpoint, IMITATION is not as straightforward as it may seem (see Edelman 2008a, ch. 6). The cumulative evolution of tool manufacture in New Caledonian crows has been studied by Gavin Hunt and Russell Gray (2003).
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