In the new TED talk , Rebecca Saxe explains the neuroscience behind reading others mind.
Turns out that a brain region called right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ) above the right ear is used to interpret thoughts of other people. This region gets developed around age five and makes us realize that others might have different belief than others. (duh!!)
Evolution has pre-equipped us with this "cool" piece of gray matter so that we can coexists in a civilized way. We humans have come a long way and gone are those days when we used to kill each other for having different beliefs. But still we have long ways to go. Have you seen lately any of the non-stop polemic nonsense in politics, TV and talk radio. These people are driven bythe quintessential money maker - the refusal to comprehend stance of others.
The obvious question is do these people have RTPJ as part of their brains. I think its safe to assume they do and its in working condition. I think, the answer to these non-stop nonsense is their false-belief. This is the classic case of evolution overwhelmed by passions (albeit passion is part of evolution). I don't believe they will be willing to pop some futuristic Nootropics to cure their false-belief and even if they did it will be like having a daily brain "Somatic (gene) therapy" for rest of their lives. The best thing is to get oneself involved in self-reflection and metacognition. (yeah right like thats gonna happen but I am an optimist)
Well fMRI is slowly getting replaced by NIRS (both are used to read the brain "output" ) but the new device transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS, which is used as an input to simulate the brain). Well the plan is to use TMS on the RTPJ region and change peoples judgements and morals (Poor guy, Jonathan Haidt he has been spending years on researching on our morals, check this out. I am big fan of his works). Any part of brain can be simulated using TMS to cause a temporary involuntary (like a reflex) action. TMS looks pretty big in size but like everything its eventually going to be small and wireless. I bet its going to cause lots of hue and cry sooner or later. This is one part of neuroscience which I sincerely believe should be under the control of neuroscientists alone, not even regular doctors or regular diagnostic labs. Although compact TMS might be cool and might turn out be the "building block" for near prefect family life!!
Who knows, TMS might turn out to be the prototype for an ultimate device to make us rational (by feeding rationality and very slight sprinkling of right passions).
Turns out that a brain region called right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ) above the right ear is used to interpret thoughts of other people. This region gets developed around age five and makes us realize that others might have different belief than others. (duh!!)
Evolution has pre-equipped us with this "cool" piece of gray matter so that we can coexists in a civilized way. We humans have come a long way and gone are those days when we used to kill each other for having different beliefs. But still we have long ways to go. Have you seen lately any of the non-stop polemic nonsense in politics, TV and talk radio. These people are driven bythe quintessential money maker - the refusal to comprehend stance of others.
The obvious question is do these people have RTPJ as part of their brains. I think its safe to assume they do and its in working condition. I think, the answer to these non-stop nonsense is their false-belief. This is the classic case of evolution overwhelmed by passions (albeit passion is part of evolution). I don't believe they will be willing to pop some futuristic Nootropics to cure their false-belief and even if they did it will be like having a daily brain "Somatic (gene) therapy" for rest of their lives. The best thing is to get oneself involved in self-reflection and metacognition. (yeah right like thats gonna happen but I am an optimist)
Well fMRI is slowly getting replaced by NIRS (both are used to read the brain "output" ) but the new device transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS, which is used as an input to simulate the brain). Well the plan is to use TMS on the RTPJ region and change peoples judgements and morals (Poor guy, Jonathan Haidt he has been spending years on researching on our morals, check this out. I am big fan of his works). Any part of brain can be simulated using TMS to cause a temporary involuntary (like a reflex) action. TMS looks pretty big in size but like everything its eventually going to be small and wireless. I bet its going to cause lots of hue and cry sooner or later. This is one part of neuroscience which I sincerely believe should be under the control of neuroscientists alone, not even regular doctors or regular diagnostic labs. Although compact TMS might be cool and might turn out be the "building block" for near prefect family life!!
Who knows, TMS might turn out to be the prototype for an ultimate device to make us rational (by feeding rationality and very slight sprinkling of right passions).
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