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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