Blog PoST 1 The idea that the world we perceive is a hallucination didn’t really shock me to much since it makes sense. We receive information through our senses and our brains interpret that information which results in our perception of reality. Of course there are times where the brain can misinterpret data and that can result in an altered perception of reality. So this means that what we see is not reality itself, but our minds imagining what it would look like with the information it has.If I could enhance one sense, I would enhance my ability to see in such a way where my field of vision would be extended. I would want such an enhancement because I would want to be more aware of my surroundings. This would allow me to take in more visual information and know more about my environment which would be useful for situations where you need to observe a wide area or you need to focus on multiple things at once.I think my best learning moment was when we discussed the many different sensations of touch, pain, and temperature we feel because it was new information for me. Prior to this I thought there was one type of nerve that feels this wide range of sensations, but instead it turns out that there are multiple types of nerves that specialize with sensations.The nature of the connection of the mind and body, from my perspective, is more of an agreement between two parties. The body provides nutrients, oxygen, other resources, and transportation for the mind, while the brain provides direction to better itself and the body while controlling the body to access those resources. The body can’t live without the mind and the mind can’t live without the body. In addition the mind can be viewed as our true self while the body acts as a vessel for it.
BLOG POST 2 According to Lisa Feldman Barrett emotions are not pre-programmed into your brain, but rather they are predictions that occur within the brain based on past experiences which are mainly physical changes or sensations. For example, if I were to smell freshly boiled pasta nearby, my stomach will began to churn and I will began to feel hungry which will prepare me to eat more pasta. On the other hand, a physical changes or sensations can result in multiple emotions different times. For example, an accelerated heartbeat before experiencing something stressful could be interpreted as anxiety or it could be a preparation for your body to do battle. The way our brains make the decision of choosing one of the two emotions is through past experiences with that same stressful moments and how you felt during those times.I believe emotions are a necessity that allowed early humans to survive, but in this age we seem to reward people who experience less emotions. When we were still hunter-gatherer tribes, emotions were crucial for informing the fellow tribe members of something. For example, a fearful expression would inform other humans that there is a threat nearby that they cannot stop. In addition, I believe emotions are something that allowed culture to flourish. For modern humans on the other hand, a lack of emotions seems to be rewarding. This is because we don’t need to worry about immediate danger as much compared to early humans and a lack of emotions allows people to make tough decisions that are either more selfish or for the greater good. Though this idea of emotionlessness could result in having selfish or corrupt people in power I believe it could be a good thing. The idea of selfishness leads to competition with others which, in certain industries, leads to innovation and creativity to outpace competition. This innovation through competition leads to the creation of faster, better, and more abundant products to benefit the consumer. If we didn’t have this emotionless in our industries, there wouldn’t be much selfishness and we wouldn’t progress as a race as fast.In a biological sense, emotions serve as predictions that allow the brain to react to a given situation. If you are getting hungry, your brain would want to eat, and if you get sad the brain would want to find things to improve the state that you are in that would make you sad. Without emotions it would be difficult for one to properly make decisions based on a given situation. This idea of decision making through emotions also explains the necessity of emotions for early humans by allowing them to make more educated decisions when hunting, gathering and surviving.Fear and anger are two emotions that could be linked to immediate danger. As stated before, in hunter-gatherer tribes as fearful expression could quickly inform other tribe members of a threat. In addition, fear could be a part of learning from the past to know what could be harmful to you. For example, one would be likely to develop a phobia of dogs if a dog has attacked them in the past which would make them want to stay away from dogs to avoid a similar dog attack. On the other hand, anger could be the expression some form of epiphany or preparing your body to attack a threat. This can also be the result of others regretful decisions that could affect them as well as you and anger could empower you to prevent others and yourself from making that regretful decision. If I made a bad decision that I am regretful of, I would get angry at myself for making the decision and as a result, become determined to change the situation I am in. In another circumstance, If someone makes me angry it’s because they are doing something threatening such as throwing an insult or throwing a blunt object. The immediate reaction would be to either flee in fear, or prepare for a fight by getting angry and counter attacking the threat with an insult or blunt object. Project Prototype