In his talk Mark Miller, from the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, took us on a journey from cognitive science to neuroscience to the ways in which wisdom theories and religious philosophies conceptualise meaning-making and being-in-the-world.
Many disciplines have traditionally stressed the ‘co-constructed’ nature of knowledge (e.g. many social science perspectives and most qualitative research approaches), and that our actions and feelings are influenced by our past experiences (e.g. psychoanalytic thought or socialization theories).
In his talk, Mark gave a neuroscience perspective on this phenomenon: the brain interprets signals based on prior experiences, and thus our neurological responses to events are always conditioned by our past. He drew parallels to how different religious philosophies conceptualise our experience of the world, e.g. the Buddhist wisdom ‘Life is a dream’ interpreted as life is impermanent, changing and co-constructed. Mark discussed what practices such as mindfulness training may offer to reflect on and become more conscious of these processes which shape our day-to-day experiences and emotions.
Questions asked by the audience included:
- What parallels can be drawn to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and his seeing the world through paradigms?
- What is the scope of human agency in breaking through established patterns and escaping from the determinism of our past/brains?
- What do we know about the algorithms underlying changes in the brain, and which parts of the brain are responsible for what?
- Is neuroscience an individualistic endeavor – and how can it consider the social and relational aspects of our experiences?
Watch Mark’s talk to find out more.