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Splitbrains for McCain

Submitted by splitbrain on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 14:39
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“Splitbrain” Conservatives are people who are aware that research with split-brain patients has yielded discoveries that thoroughly validate the Conservative view of Mankind and thoroughly repudiate the Liberal view.

The emerging reality is that we are programmed to be tribal territorial animals ... to compulsively form tribes and to war with one another for dominance. This has always been an observable (but emphatically denied) reality, but split-brain research has uncovered and documented the existence of a brain function that enables us to be instinct-driven tribal territorial animals yet totally unaware of the instincts influencing our behavior.

It has been demonstrated, repeatedly and convincingly, that the left-brain's “Interpreter” function automatically generates conscious (and implicitly believed) explanations for any actions we perform or feelings we experience that are not consciously motivated. Thus whenever we lash out at opponents in response to our tribal programming, we implicitly believe that we did so, not instinctively, but for consciously decided upon reasons.

The plaintive question, “Why can't we all just live in peace,” and the bewilderment that throughout our history we have always warred rather than living in peace, is now answerable: “We war because we are programmed to form tribes and contend with one another, and remembering our history will not prevent it unless and until we understand the underlying tribal species programming driving it.”

Until then, the only “Peace” possible is a Pax Romana or a Pax Americana, where one tribe is dominant enough to quell all others, and we can only pray that the dominant tribe remains an America rather than a Russia, China, or Iran.

I encourage all Conservatives to become aware of the incredible significance of what is being learned about how our brain unconsciously influences our behavior, and shamelessly recommend my book, Man by Nature: The Hidden Programming Controlling Human Behavior, as a starting point.

 

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Wonderful suggestion

Submitted by lagomorph on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 23:20.

Neuroscience rocks.  Maybe it's because I'm a computer scientists whose original major was Sociology, but I definitely "get" this.  I ordered the book tonite, it'll be here Friday - along with Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel".   Thx for the educational and interesting post.

 

Another CS guy here

Submitted by Freedoms Truth on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 23:39.

no wonder we think alike. :-)

A book I enjoyed on the topic is the "Chemistry of Human Consciousness"

The one political implication is that it might rethink your view of comas.

People never becomes 'vegetables', that is outdated and as wrong as anything. The CS terms might be that the brain is in a state where it cannot be booted back into consciousness. The book explains some of the mysteries of those states, including how and why delusional schizophrenia is like having live nightmares.

 

I had a personal experience that made me rethink comas

Submitted by lagomorph on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 13:53.

Srsly.  I had major surgery scheduled quite awhile back, and was absolutely freaking about it so I purchased a book titled Prepare For Surgery, Heal Faster by Peggy Huddleston.  Her book explains that people in comas and under major anesthetic - states where we normally consider the mind to be "unconscious" can, when put into a relaxed hypnotic state, remember things like the surgeons and their staffs discussing baseball and football scores, movie reviews, and other very esoteric, specific details that could not possibly be recalled under the power of suggestion without first-hand knowledge. 

Apparently "consciousness" is TSR and remains running in the background even when it's not apparent to the observers.  This fact alone makes cases such as the one withTerry Schiavo ethically, morally and scientifically wrong on all fronts, and I adamantly protested that execution because I felt it was entirely possible for her consciousness to register love and companionship, and there was certainly no doubt about the pleasure and comfort she gave to her caregiving family members.  That's another chapter in the culture war that's unfortunately closed, but I feel it certainly relates to the neuroscience topic.

I discussed Huddleston's book with my surgeon and my anesthesiologist, and they both encouraged me to take my iPod and headphones into surgery so that I could listen to relaxing music and Huddleston's affirmations pre-, during, and post-op.  The relaxation response was so profound that the surgery went faster, bleeding was totally minimal, healing accelerated dramatically, and required 50% less medication both during and after the surgery.  This was all documented by the surgical and nursing staff. 

The success of this phenomenon prompted me to look into reprogramming the mind and its ability to communicate well-being, focus, stamina, and so on through its chemical processes.  It happens every day involuntarily through propaganda and memes with very mixed and often negative results, so why not do it intentionally for desired results through meditation and hypnosis?  As Dan Dennett said in his TED speech, there is no difference between bits, bytes and words - they are merely vehicles for information.  Anyone who's not convinced that thoughts are things can simply look around and realize that every single "thing" around them began as a concept, a thought process, made "real".   Becoming an observer as well as a participant of the thought process triggers both hemispheres to communicate - it optimizes the compilation and interpretation of information.  Paradoxically, the more the owner of the processors detaches and simply observes the processes, the more s/he is able to control their perception of "reality". 

And if I hadn't experienced it myself, I'd probably still think it was nothing but a big load of B.S.  I don't expect the general public to align with this point of view any time soon, but over time I hope that it will build credibility.