Origins of Thought 03 150dpi

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1 The Origins of Thought | Michael Stancato 2008 | March 19, 2010

TheOriginsofThought

Regulating bodily functions,our reptilian brain is re-sponsible for our fight or flight

impulses and our base impulse to

reproduce. Next our mammalianbrain evolved, called the limbic

system. This region is responsi-

ble for our emotional responses.

Love, fear, hate, jealousy and

loyalty, for example. We liter-

ally have a dogs brain inside us.

This is the region that compels

us to form social groups, much

different from the reptilian which

will eat its own young. Finally, the

thin and folded outer layer evolved

called the neocortex, or ourreasoning brain. This advanced

memory system gives us language

and logic. MacLeans 1967 theory

is now regarded as simplistic in

its assignment of specific regions

to cognitive processes but the

evolutionary model and their as-

sociated responses are still us

in neuroscience and applied

as a strategy in gauging huma

behavior.

I theorize how these three regionare connected can be illustrated b

observing how the branches of a

or other natural forms are connec

in a hierarchal pattern. I think tha

this hierarchal pattern affects our

cognitive processes in very spec

ways.

Reptile Brain:Cerebellum,Brainstem

Mammalian Brain:Limbic System

Reasoning Brain:Neocortex

The Triune Brain Theorydeveloped by neuroscientist, Dr. Paul MacLe

suggests our brain evolved into three functionally different regio

from the bottom up. First, the brainstem and cerebellum formed. Call

the reptilian brain, much like the brain found in reptiles.


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a hierarchal learning institution

In an industrial society where

people are mostly paid to follow

directions rather than talk about

their work or innovate, hierarchies

made a lot more sense. But the trut

is, the looser organic network has

always been where Knowledge &

Innovation occur -- in the hidden,unofficial connections and conver-

sations between people. Just think

of all the stories you hear about

things like the Lockheed skunk

works, or Bell Labs -- situations

where innovation fermented in spit

of organizational lines.

Source: Architectures for Conversa-

tion; What Communities of Practice

can mean for Information Architects

by Andrew Hinton

When Hussein has no more cards to

play he puts the reptile brain card on

the table.

The image above, (figure 7) makes

my initial point very well regard-ing how our thought pro-

cesses are influenced by the

natural structures that are

all pervasive in our environ-

ment. But this image is not a

true picture of the complexity

of our neural networks.

The human brain is much

more complex than the

simple branching hierarchyof a single tree. The singe tree

analogy is now expanded.

Imagine a whole grove of

trees all cut down and their

intact branching structures

condensed and rolled into a

ball. Now you have a more

accurate model of the hu-

man brain structure. With

this amount of complex-ity creative thought can

develop. Divergent thinking

comes from electrochemi-

cal pathways that can easily

jump from one tree structure

to another. When this hap-

pens, whole storehouses of

knowledge, perceptions, ideas

and memories are combined to

create innovation.

Externally this same pattern of

communication can be seen in

our social structures. Most true

innovation comes from social

structures called Communities

of Practice. Wikipedia defines

Communities of Practice as the

process of social learning that

occurs when people who have a

common interest in some subject

or problem collaborate over an

extended period to share ideas,

find solutions, and build innova-

tions.... Jazz and Hip Hop came

from Communities of Practice, not

Hierarchies compared to Communities of Practice

Top-DownCommand Hierarchy

EmergentOrganic Network


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It turns out that my idea of fram-

ing issues in terms of evolution

is catching on. See page 32 of

Scientific American Jan 2009.

Below are two examples ofpositive evolution and integrated

complexity.

The first example

The tree removal in this national

park is a surprising example of

positive evolution and integrated

complexity

New birth of Gettysburg 2008

... Nowhere is this tree removal

more dramatic than at Devils

Den. Standing on the pile of

giant boulders today, visitors

can see pretty much what Union

soldiers saw July 2, 1863...

Information builds complex-

ity over a hierarchal network.

The abolishment of slavery isan example of a human network

expanding to include a larger in-

tegration of human insight. Pre-

serving these lessons of the past

is an example of an integrated

complexity. Human knowledge

marches on. Critical junctures

are preserved. Natural diversity

is preserved elsewhere and or

adjacent to Gettysburg NationalPark. Both cultural and natural

progressions can expand concur-

rently and integrated.

Most of the recent economic

debate centers on what is a

positive economic stimulus and

what isnt. I think I have a way

to frame the problem to come up

with more definitive answers.

Over-consumption at all levels

has led to the current economic

correction. Too many people

have spent money on things

they dont need. It is important

to add, having children in an

overpopulated world is the great-

est act of over-consumption a

person could choose.

I have begun to view all human

activities through my definition

of What is Evolution? Evolu-

tion is information building on

information. Based on this defi-

nition most peoples activities

are trivial and redundant. Profits

alone are not a healthy criteria

to support information build-

ing on information. What is a

healthy criteria is whether or not

the activity provides something

novel that creates an integrated

complexity.

The American Dream or any

dream of power or comfort is

an irrelevant goal because is

does not necessarily pursue in-

novation. Most people are notdirecting their lives towards

information building on informa-

tion. Instead theyre growing fat

and domesticated on sugars and

saturated fats.

Hierarchal Evolution(continued)


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The second example

Sons of Kenyan Village Build

First ClinicThis story is a good example that

supports my theory that many,

if not all, social issues can be

evaluated in terms of, What

is evolution? My definition of

evolution is that it is information

building on information which

yields an integrated complexity.

We must make our decisions on

how to act based on this premise.

Picture evolution as a tree

of ever expanding information

building on information that is

constantly branching and grow-

ing.

The village was compelled to

give what little they had to help

the two students. They did so

willingly to expand towards the

leading edge of information and

networking. The village is the

trunk of the tree. The two stu-

dents are then propelled up to the

highest branches of this every

expanding tree of information.

The integrated complexity is the

acknowledgment and return of

resources to the village. Just as

the upper branches of the tree

nourish the lower structures that

support it.

The problem we often have in

most social systems is that many

people, view evolution as a

pruned tree in which they are the

surviving fittest. Its very likely

the Wall Street Executives whotake billions, while the middle

class economy that supports

them are going bankrupt, think

they are the fittest.

This pruned tree model is

not what we see naturally

occurring around us. What we

see are hierarchal information

processing systems treesthat are continually growing

not pruned. There is plenty of

genetic evidence to support that

mutations and novelty outpace

the pruning of natural selection.

Furthermore the problematic

social systems ignore the support

of the lower structures which I

call the integrated complexity.

I think President Obama intui-tively or secretly understands

what I have just put forth. If he

is keeping his philosophy unsaid

it is likely so as not to alienate a

massive population of ignorant

and or selfish citizens.

Evolution is information build-

ing of information which yields

an integrated complexity. Evolu-tion is not a pruned tree. It is the

tree that keeps on growing.

Biblical support for my hierarchal

information processing theory

presented in this essay.

Luke 12:6-7

Luke 13:18-19

Luke 13:20-21

Luke 18:18-19

Luke 19:11-27

Luke 20:9-18

Luke 23:31

Luke 23:46

Judges 9:2-3

Judges 9:7-21

Judges 9:56

Judges 16:22

John 3:31-36

John 4:13

John 5:19-23

John 5:24

John 5:26-27

John 5:30

John 5:31-38

John 6:32-33

John 6:38

John 6:44

John 6:45

John 8:16-19

John 8:25-27

John 8:31-36 ***

John 8:43-45

John 13:3-5

John 13:14-17

John 14:6-12

John 14:23-26

John 15:1-8 ***

1 Samuel 21:41

2 Samuel 3:29

Proverbs 15:4

Proverbs 15:12-14

Hierarchal Evolution(continued)

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/comments?type=story&id=6763156


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Origins of Thought 03 150dpi