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Originally Posted by zefff Oh so this is where all the mods hang out! 
When re-routing the neural networks should we take into account and adapt our responses to the social norms of right and wrong?
Can we still develop a certain conviction in our responses or is it possible that this limiting of response not only denies us of total flexibility but also cuts us off from the root of our combative nature? Basically, does fighting with limits and a mind full of regard keep us from understanding our true nature? |
I think that first I should clarify what exactly conviction or instinct is in terms of brain functions. You walk to the fridge, open it up and reach in to grab the bottle of orange juice or beer or what have you. Simple enough, right? Now, try doing that wearing goggles that use mirrors to invert your visual field. A British psychologist did just that, to try to simulate how infants develop motor skills and hand-eye coordination. In a nutshell, when you grab for that bottle, your sensory input goes directly to the motor control, you don't have to think about acting. However, if your senses were drastically changes, or simply unformed like that of a baby's, you would have to think about it and thus the sensory impulses go to your frontal lobe and then to your motor areas. So, even if you were very bright and could think things out in short order, it would take longer simply due to the time it requires for the synapses to fire along the pathway through your frontal lobe.
So, with a complete and utter commitment to a certain direction of action, less thought is involved, and actions are initiated more quickly. That being said, it is still possibly to bypass the frontal lobe altogether by training the action so much that it becomes a natural reaction, you see the bottle of OJ you grab it, you see the face of an enemy you punch it, etc.
So, if one was inclined to be ethical and upright in all things, one could and should train that action diligently so that the action overrides more natural instincts. The British psychologist got used to the goggles after about a week and could catch a thrown ball as well as throw it with typical accuracy, he could ride a bike down a path, etc. But he wore the goggles constantly for that period of time. We're not always fighting, so of course it will take much longer to properly train oneself to not be brutish in combat.
We are slaves to nothing because the mind is malleable.
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Is fighting in defence with a sense of justice a delusion?
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Well, that's a bit stickier. First, in who's defense are we fighting? If the answer is our own defense, the only way that is just is if we are currently being treated with injustice, i.e. a mugger is trying to rob us. If somebody attacks us as retaliation, then we have enacted injustice, are receiving justice and therefore defending ourselves from this attack is not just because we should accept our punishment. The same theory applies if we fight on behalf of others. BUT, and notice the capitals, justice is an abstract idea conjoured by humans who are upset that the stronger, faster, smarter, etc. receive more benefit than they do. Justice is itself a delusion, based on man's need to feel that the world is fair, balanced and individual differences don't matter. In the words of Nietzsche, it is slave morality because the weak or unfortunate will use the concept of justice to advance their own causes which take what the strong have gained through their own superior abilities. So, first justice is a delusion because we made it up and secondly it is a lie because it was made up to assault the naturally greater humans and take what they earned.