The Triune Brain

Posts : 513 Join date : 2011-11-16

Quote :: The triune brain is a model of the evolution of the vertebrate forebrain and behavior proposed by the American physician and neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean. MacLean originally formulated his model in the 1960s and propounded it at length in his 1990 book The Triune Brain in Evolution.[1] The triune brain consists of the reptilian complex, the paleomammalian complex (limbic system), and the neomammalian complex (neocortex), viewed as structures sequentially added to the forebrain in the course of evolution.

Quote :: Reptilian complex

The reptilian complex, also known as the R-complex or "reptilian brain" was the name MacLean gave to the basal ganglia, structures derived from the floor of the forebrain during development. The term derives from the fact that comparative neuroanatomists once believed that the forebrains of reptiles and birds were dominated by these structures. MacLean proposed that the reptilian complex was responsible for species typical instinctual behaviors involved in aggression, dominance, territoriality, and ritual displays.
Paleomammalian complex

The paleomammalian brain consists of the septum, amygdalae, hypothalamus, hippocampal complex, and cingulate cortex. MacLean first introduced the term "limbic system" to refer to this set of interconnected brain structures in a paper in 1952. MacLean's recognition of the limbic system as a major functional system in the brain has won wide acceptance among neuroscientists, and is generally regarded as his most important contribution to the field. MacLean maintained that the structures of the limbic system arose early in mammalian evolution (hence "paleomammalian") and were responsible for the motivation and emotion involved in feeding, reproductive behavior, and parental behavior.
Neomammalian complex

The neomammalian complex consists of the cerebral neocortex, a structure found uniquely in mammals. MacLean regarded its addition as the most recent step in the evolution of the mammilian brain, conferring the ability for language, abstraction, planning, and perception.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triune_brain

It always wondered why seemingly intelligent people behave irrationally sometimes, me included....you know that stuff I like to eat knowing that is not good for me and I eat anyway.
Now I believe that I have the explanation.....OUR PRIMITIVE BRAIN TAKES CONTROL AND OVERRIDES REASON.
I came with this conclusion while looking at the brain evolution. Our brains were not created out of dust six thousands of years ago by the fat guy in the sky, it most likely evolved by adding parts to a primitive brain which is alive and well and it is responsible for our instincts. Once activated it takes over the most modern part (neocortex) which is responsible for reason.
That explains why Bill Clinton fell for that fat pussy and got himself in all that trouble. I always wonder: what was he thinking???
Anyway, I found this video on the tube talking about this shit. The first part is pretty good, the second half...well, nobody is perfect. lol.

Posts : 187 Join date : 2013-01-31

A couple of years ago, Harvard scientists proved there is NO free will. They conducted an epxeriment in which they put electrodes on the heads of volunteer students. Then they had them answer fast questions about what they like or not, up or dowen, back or forward such kind of decisions. And in each and every case, the areas of the brain belonging to the subconscious were first activated. Then the activation surge passed to areas of the conscious, milliseconds after the INSTINCTS decided about everything. So whenever w ethink we make a conscious decision, it's our programming, encoded in our DNA that makes the decision for us a split second before we think we decided.
So it's no surprise ole Bill got crazy over the fatso pussy, she was the ideal woman for his subconscious, he couldn't help himself.
I'm pretty sure Mother Nature has an ace up her sleeve, an trigger mechanism which will negate our self-preservation instincts when She decides it's time to get rid of us, or to reduce our population like it happens with ants and lemmings. Hey, judging from all the shootings happening in the US lately and general violence across the world...it may be happening right now...

Posts : 177 Join date : 2012-06-11

I have a question for you both:

Will you be disappointed, if when you die....you find out there IS something after this world?

Do you live as if there is not?

Because if there is no such thing as free will or free thought, then what is the point of being sentient in the first place?

Posts : 513 Join date : 2011-11-16

HornusPornus wrote:: A couple of years ago, Harvard scientists proved there is NO free will. They conducted an epxeriment in which they put electrodes on the heads of volunteer students. Then they had them answer fast questions about what they like or not, up or dowen, back or forward such kind of decisions. And in each and every case, the areas of the brain belonging to the subconscious were first activated. Then the activation surge passed to areas of the conscious, milliseconds after the INSTINCTS decided about everything. So whenever w ethink we make a conscious decision, it's our programming, encoded in our DNA that makes the decision for us a split second before we think we decided.
So it's no surprise ole Bill got crazy over the fatso pussy, she was the ideal woman for his subconscious, he couldn't help himself.
I'm pretty sure Mother Nature has an ace up her sleeve, an trigger mechanism which will negate our self-preservation instincts when She decides it's time to get rid of us, or to reduce our population like it happens with ants and lemmings. Hey, judging from all the shootings happening in the US lately and general violence across the world...it may be happening right now...

How much these Harvard scientists are getting paid?
Give me a few bananas and I can come up with a better theory....I actually already done it....I call it "THE THEORY OF INEVITABILITY, and I already mentioned about it on another forum. It is about the same conclusion (NO FREE WILL) but on a much larger scale....an universal scale. There is not free will when things are inevitable. FREE WILL is actually an illusion.
I'll try to illustrate with a very good human example:
My father-in-law NEVER, ever took an injection in his life. He would rather die than to take an injection. About 15 years ago he had a big problem with hemorrhoids and someone mentioned an operation on his asshole. HE DECIDED to go into a strict macrobiotic diet and he followed that diet (rice, tea and some stinky vegetables, no even water) for many years. The dude used to eat everything with exaggeration....now he relaxed a little bit, but still doesn't eat meat, eggs and drink milk.
My point is: Did he have free will when he decided to drastically change his diet, or the fear of an operation on his asshole drove him to change?
I also gave another example of inevitability recently when I mentioned a star in a distant galaxy. A star, not matter where in the Universe, is a ball of fire burning hydrogen into Helium.....it has no choice or free will....there are no cubic stars burning gasoline. Humans and stars are made of the same stuff....all part of the cosmic soup....everything following the same rules.

Posts : 513 Join date : 2011-11-16

Shining wrote:: I have a question for you both:

Will you be disappointed, if when you die....you find out there IS something after this world?

Do you live as if there is not?

Because if there is no such thing as free will or free thought, then what is the point of being sentient in the first place?

Quote :: Will you be disappointed, if when you die....you find out there IS something after this world?

Only if I meet Jesus and he tells me: Dude, you had your chance and didn't believe me, now you're fucked, other than that, why would I be disappointed? It seems that I only have things to gain.
On the other hand, how about people who live their lives thinking that they would be rewarded on the next life and nothing happen ? .......well, they would not be disappointed either because THEY WILL BE DEAD.
It seems that the FEAR OF DEATH is responsible for the notion of the afterlife. (yes, I know....most people would say that they are not afraid of death...tell that to your reptilian brain/ survival instinct. The only exceptions I know is when people are terminally ill and in a lot of pain or are psychologically fucked up, like Adam Lanza and company)
I rather fight for a descent life right now and perhaps help my species to evolve in the right direction. When I finally pass my baton...my job will be done and I will dissolve into the soup again.

Quote :: Because if there is no such thing as free will or free thought, then what is the point of being sentient in the first place?

If ever happens for you to agree with my theory of inevitability you will realize that matter/energy will eventually evolve and become self aware of its existence at some point, somewhere at different places in Universe. I can only speculate what could come after that, because I'm not aware of any civilization more advanced than ours....only anecdotal evidences. Immortality of the mind could very well be the next step, not because our spirits are going to float in the air when we die, but because we may learn to stop the aging process, download our minds into clones of ourselves, or machines, etc.

Posts : 187 Join date : 2013-01-31

Shining wrote:: I have a question for you both:

Will you be disappointed, if when you die....you find out there IS something after this world?

Do you live as if there is not?

Because if there is no such thing as free will or free thought, then what is the point of being sentient in the first place?

My point exactly....maybe, just maybe...we THINK we're sentient....but we may be just living batteries in someone's biiig Matrix .. Wink

Posts : 312 Join date : 2011-08-31

Shining wrote:: I have a question for you both:

Will you be disappointed, if when you die....you find out there IS something after this world?

Do you live as if there is not?

Because if there is no such thing as free will or free thought, then what is the point of being sentient in the first place?

"What is the point...?" seems to be a common question among those who believe in the afterlife.

That question, "what is the point," assumes that there necessarily is a point. Maybe there is no point. Maybe we never need to know and we can live happy and content lives without ever knowing. That's my belief. I believe in 'it don't matter.' I believe we just do the best we can with the info we got, be as happy as we can while making others happy, and do our best not to injure others. Those three concepts can be adhered to by all humans, past, present, future, regardless of technology.

Posts : 513 Join date : 2011-11-16

GenericTylerDurden wrote:

Shining wrote:: I have a question for you both:

Will you be disappointed, if when you die....you find out there IS something after this world?

Do you live as if there is not?

Because if there is no such thing as free will or free thought, then what is the point of being sentient in the first place?

"What is the point...?" seems to be a common question among those who believe in the afterlife.

That question, "what is the point," assumes that there necessarily is a point. Maybe there is no point. Maybe we never need to know and we can live happy and content lives without ever knowing. That's my belief. I believe in 'it don't matter.' I believe we just do the best we can with the info we got, be as happy as we can while making others happy, and do our best not to injure others. Those three concepts can be adhered to by all humans, past, present, future, regardless of technology.

I agree with the part that sometimes the answers we already have are never enough for some people. ...but what came before the Big Bang?
Even if I could come up with an answer, I bet that the next question would be: but what came before the thing that came before the Big Bang?

Shining has a point....everything has a point, a reason and a purpose.
Too bad she may be busy right now having a baby and cannot join the conversation....women sucks.
Anyway, I think it would be more productive to have afterlife conversations after we are dead, but since we are still on the subject, consider this:

I mentioned before that perhaps the next step in human evolution could be downloading our minds into clones of ourselves or machines (afterlife), but since there is a good chance that civilizations a lot older than ours can exist in the universe, perhaps the wireless downloading of minds into other bodies could be part of their technology and the spirits that people claim to see around are not really from humans.
Just a thought.

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