Deck 1: Essay

Question 1

What are the seven general steps in the evolution of the nervous system?

Answer 1

no answer

Question 2

What is dualism?

Answer 2

Dualism, in philosophy, is the belief that reality or existence is divided into two fundamental parts, often characterized as the mind and the body, or more broadly, the mental and the physical. This concept has been a central issue in the philosophy of mind and metaphysics, with its most famous proponent being the 17th-century philosopher René Descartes.

According to Cartesian dualism, the mind is a non-physical substance that is distinct from the body, a physical substance. Descartes argued that the mind, which is the seat of consciousness and thought, cannot be explained by physical processes alone. He believed that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland, a small organ situated in the brain, which he considered the "seat of the soul."

Dualism poses a challenge to the understanding of the relationship between consciousness and the physical world. It raises questions such as how non-physical mental states can cause physical actions, and how the mind and body communicate if they are fundamentally different in nature. This problem is often referred to as the "mind-body problem."

There are several variations of dualism:

1. Substance Dualism: This is the view that the mind and body consist of two fundamentally different kinds of substances – mental and material.

2. Property Dualism: This view holds that while there is only one kind of substance (usually physical), it possesses two kinds of properties: physical properties and mental properties.

3. Interactionism: This is the belief that the mind and body interact causally, influencing one another.

4. Parallelism: This is the view that the mind and body do not interact causally but run on parallel courses, with mental and physical events occurring in correspondence due to pre-established harmony.

5. Epiphenomenalism: This is the idea that mental events are caused by physical events in the brain but have no effects upon any physical events.

Dualism stands in contrast to monism, which is the belief that there is only one fundamental substance or principle. Within monism, there are different views, such as physicalism or materialism, which hold that everything is physical, and idealism, which posits that everything is mental.

The debate between dualism and monism continues to be a central issue in the philosophy of mind, with advancements in neuroscience and psychology contributing to the ongoing discussion about the nature of consciousness and its relation to the physical world.

Question 3

Define taxonomy and apply it to humans.

Answer 3

no answer

Question 4

What are memes and how do they influence our evolution?

Question 5

Define species-typical behavior.How does this influence our comparisons of intelligence across species?

Question 6

What did Darwin postulate about emotional expressions?

Question 7

What is the difference between a minimally conscious state (MCS)and a persistent vegetative state (PVS)?

Question 8

Your friend says,"Of course elephants are smarter than dolphins,they have much bigger brains." Why is your friend's reasoning incorrect? What factors are he not taking into account to explain differences in brain size?

Question 9

Define common ancestor and how this applies to Darwin's theory of evolution.

Question 10

What is the radiator hypothesis? How might it have shaped the evolution of the human brain?

Question 11

Define Aristotle's "psyche."

Question 12

Why was the pineal body important to Descartes?

Question 13

How do fruit-eating primates differ from nonfruit-eating primates? How might this have influenced the evolution of the brain?

Question 14

Differentiate between Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

Question 15

Differentiate between the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Question 16

How might climate changes have influenced the evolution of the human brain?

Question 17

What is an encephalization quotient?

Question 18

What is epigenetics and why is it an important topic to study?

Question 19

What is materialism and how has it influenced the study of neuroscience?