Archive for January, 2007

Playing Altruism Computer Games Inside a Loud Tube

January 24, 2007 at 5:58 pm · Filed under Minds, Brains, & inbetween

Read an interesting article about a recent fMRI study of altruism.

Here’s an excerpt:

“We went into this experiment with the idea that altruism was really a function of the brain’s reward systems — altruistic people would simply find it more rewarding,” [Huettel] said.

But instead, a whole other brain region, called the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC), kicked into high gear as altruism levels rose. The pSTC is located near the back of the brain and is not focused on reward. Instead, it focuses on perceiving others’ intentions and actions, Huettel said.
…
The researchers found that pSTC activity was highest when study participants were observing the computer play the game on its own — not when they were playing themselves.

So in straight talking terms, people who are rated as highly altruistic according to a self-report test also have higher activation of the pSTC region which from other studies is correlated with one’s “theory of mind.”

I’m betting that the scientists went in expecting to see the reward center light up when they played the game but not when the computer played it. Instead they got no activation in the reward center, so instead they launched off on a different conjecture assuming that the reward centers don’t have any role to play in altruism.

Possibly, but a more likely reason is that playing their little altruism game in a loud claustrophobic MRI tube just doesn’t translate to real world acts of altruism. Plus, I’m betting the game just wasn’t all that fun to play. As a result, altruistic acts might activate the reward centers, but we just don’t know from this study.

Still their findings of increased pSTC activation are interesting. It indicates, but doesn’t prove, that (self-reporting) altruists also have a high functioning “theory of mind.” To put it another way, altruists who are self aware of their own altruistic nature are also probably keenly aware of the (altruistic or non-altruistic) intentions of others—relating nicely to the evolutionary concept of reciprocal altruism.

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Question Authority?

January 16, 2007 at 7:16 pm · Filed under Art Freak Culture + Life, Meaning, & Selfhood

I’ve been involved in an interested email exchange lately with a friend who sent me a mass email about Reiki. My request to be removed from his “bullshit Reiki spam list” was admittedly a bit overly confrontational. However, the dialog since has been more cordial and has had the benefit of allowing me to better reflect on my attitude and behavior towards Reiki and other specious claims.

Of course, I could have just said a simple “no thank you” (or run a email filter of his name and the word “reiki”). This avoidant approach feels wrong to me given my desire to discourage medical psuedoscience, and my basic underlying goal of encouraging skepticism for unproven ideas/beliefs of all stripes.

In asking myself why this has become important to me, I came upon an answer that links with my artist/punk/freak roots: “Question Authority”

I run in circle of burners, artists, punks, and related freaks for whom the motto of “Question Authority” is often tossed about. Unfortunately, many of these same people end up mistaking the lure of sub/anti-culture authority for the noble act true questioning. While rebelling from mainstream thought, they fall for specious claims like reiki and astrology and echinacea and the utopian dreams of a worldwide gift economy. These beliefs are tantalizing due to the intrinsic draw of anecdotal experiences of ones peers or idols and the sense of freedom invoked by believing something seemingly novel.

True questioning is a search for answers beyond any authority sprouting it’s opinions—whether that authority is a priest, guru, teacher, politician, scientist, celebrity, tv, book, blog, parent, friend, lover, or even one’s self. Separating the underlying reality from the influence of authority, the tyranny of peer pressure, and our own cognitive biases is often a difficult process full of half starts and dead ends, but it is an admirable and worthwhile goal.

The motto of “Question Authority” may be rooted in punk, but it is grounded in scientific empiricism.

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