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Thursday, May 28, 2009

  • As someone who studies the brain and also tries to disseminate information about the brain in a user-friendly, but scientifically accurate, way, I cringe when I read some pop accounts of brain research. For example, I recently saw this CNN headline: "Will right-brainers rule this century?" Clicking on the link took me to OPRAH.com, which promised, less hesitantly, to explain "Why right-brainers will rule this century." At least CNN considered the possibility that there was some question about the veracity of the statement. Oprah's headline implied it's a done deal.

    tags: brain, ledoux, cogsci, grue

  • Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have now genetically engineered a strain of mice whose FOXP2 gene has been swapped out for the human version. Svante Paabo, in whose laboratory the mouse was engineered, promised several years ago that when the project was completed, ?We will speak to the mouse.?

    tags: language, FOXP2, genetics, grue

  • Some evolutionary psychologists believe that disgust emerged as a protective mechanism against health risks, like feces, spoiled food or corpses. Later, many societies came to apply the same emotion to social ?threats.? Humans appear to be the only species that registers disgust, which is why a dog will wag its tail in puzzlement when its horrified owner yanks it back from eating excrement.

    tags: disgust, morality, neuroethics, grue, cogsci

  • Animals possess a sense of morality that allows them to tell the difference between right and wrong, according to a controversial new book.

    tags: morality, evolution, brains, neuroethics, 150, grue


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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