He opens the course by identifying two hypothetical characters. One, a gregarious marketer, the other a meticulous accountant.Their behaviors change, as the marketing guy becomes more withdrawn and quiet, weirding out his customers. Meanwhile, our reliable accountant begins making inappropriate sexual jokes, stalking women and generally giving everyone the creeps. Strangely enough, both men are suffering from a genetic disorder, and it's the same one.
Buckets and categories help us understand the world better and also serve as memory aides. We have an easier time recalling things we can categorize. But they distort our understanding of similarities and differences. And if you pay too much attention to the boundaries, you have trouble seeing the whole picture.
Seeing outside the buckets involves analyzing behavior from multiple perspectives, giving you a range from a second ago to millenia ago (evolution) as you analyze a behavior.
Watson, Moniz and Lorenz and their bucket quotes make another appearance, demonstrating how locked in scientists get in their fields.
Some of the challenge in understanding humans comes from the fact that sometimes we are exactly like other species at a basic biological level. Rodents, pigs and humans - the Wellesley Effect. This knowledge is courtesy of Martha McClintock (we prefer the jumping genes to this knowledge).
On the other hand, sometimes our physiology is exactly the same as everyone else, yet we use it in an entirely different way. For example, two chess grandmasters will exemplify the same physiology during a contest as a marathon runner, and the only thing they're doing is thinking. (Naturally this is deeply connected with our stress related diseases).
The last thing is that we do things that have no precedent in the non-human world.
Individual differences and plasticity in the nervous system (and human behavior) will be central themes throughout the course.
Buckets and categories help us understand the world better and also serve as memory aides. We have an easier time recalling things we can categorize. But they distort our understanding of similarities and differences. And if you pay too much attention to the boundaries, you have trouble seeing the whole picture.
Seeing outside the buckets involves analyzing behavior from multiple perspectives, giving you a range from a second ago to millenia ago (evolution) as you analyze a behavior.
Watson, Moniz and Lorenz and their bucket quotes make another appearance, demonstrating how locked in scientists get in their fields.
Some of the challenge in understanding humans comes from the fact that sometimes we are exactly like other species at a basic biological level. Rodents, pigs and humans - the Wellesley Effect. This knowledge is courtesy of Martha McClintock (we prefer the jumping genes to this knowledge).
On the other hand, sometimes our physiology is exactly the same as everyone else, yet we use it in an entirely different way. For example, two chess grandmasters will exemplify the same physiology during a contest as a marathon runner, and the only thing they're doing is thinking. (Naturally this is deeply connected with our stress related diseases).
The last thing is that we do things that have no precedent in the non-human world.
Individual differences and plasticity in the nervous system (and human behavior) will be central themes throughout the course.
