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Re: [xmca] Cultural Psychology in the NYTimes.com



Yeah, I heard another scientist speaking on the radio about the brand new discoveries of neuroscience, a world expert in neuropsychology, who has apparently been advising the Pope and the Dalai Lama on what science tells us about the mind. Basically he just added pop psychology, like "give your children boundaries," to statements about what various sections of the brain are doing at the time. Yuk!

andy

Tony Whitson wrote:
I read a book once with the title "Cultural Psychology: The Once and Future Discipline" (or something like that). The New York Times article does not remind me of that book.

Here's just a couple clippings:

"'Children are altruistic by nature,' he writes, and though they are also naturally selfish, all parents need do is try to tip the balance toward social behavior.

"The shared intentionality lies at the basis of human society, Dr. Tomasello argues. From it flow ideas of norms, of punishing those who violate the norms and of shame and guilt for punishing oneself. Shared intentionality evolved very early in the human lineage, he believes, and its probable purpose was for cooperation in gathering food. Anthropologists report that when men cooperate in hunting, they can take down large game, which single hunters generally cannot do. Chimpanzees gather to hunt colobus monkeys, but Dr. Tomasello argues this is far less of a cooperative endeavor because the participants act on an ad hoc basis and do not really share their catch."

and

"'We're preprogrammed to reach out,' Dr. de Waal writes. 'Empathy is an automated response over which we have limited control.' The only people emotionally immune to another's situation, he notes, are psychopaths.

Indeed, it is in our biological nature, not our political institutions, that we should put our trust, in his view. Our empathy is innate and cannot be changed or long suppressed. 'In fact,' Dr. de Waal writes, 'I'd argue that biology constitutes our greatest hope. One can only shudder at the thought that the humaneness of our societies would depend on the whims of politics, culture or religion.'"

On Sat, 5 Dec 2009, David Preiss wrote:


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/science/01human.html



David Preiss
ddpreiss@me.com
Info Académica: http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
Info Literaria: http://web.me.com/ddpreiss/Site_2/

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Tony Whitson
UD School of Education
NEWARK  DE  19716

twhitson@udel.edu
_______________________________

"those who fail to reread
 are obliged to read the same story everywhere"
                  -- Roland Barthes, S/Z (1970)


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Classics in Activity Theory: Hegel, Leontyev, Meshcheryakov, Ilyenkov $20 ea

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