Oneoftheworld’sleadingexpertsonmindandbraintakesusonanexpeditionthatrevealsanewviewofwhatmakesuswhoweare.Humanshavelongthoughtoftheirbodiesandmindsasseparatespheresofexistence.Thebodyisphysical--thesourceofachesandpains.Butthemindismental;itperceives,remembers,believes,feels,andimagines.Althoughmodernsciencehaslargelyeliminatedthismind-bodydualism,peoplestilltendtoimaginetheirmindsasseparatefromtheirphysicalbeing.Eveninresearch,thenotionofthe“self“assomehowdistinctfromtherestoftheorganismpersists.JosephLeDouxarguesthatwehavehitanepistemologicalwall--thatideasliketheselfareincreasinglybarrierstodiscoveryandunderstanding.Heoffersanewframeworkofwhoweare,theorizingfourrealmsofexistence--bodily,neural,cognitive,andconscious.Thebiologicalrealmmakeslifepossible.Hence,everylivingthingexistsbiologically.Animals,uniquely,supplementbiologicalexistencewithanervoussystem.Thisneuralcomponentenablesthemtocontroltheirbodieswithspeedandprecisionunseeninotherformsoflife.Someanimalswithnervoussystemspossessacognitiverealm,whichallowsthecreationofinternalrepresentationsoftheworldaroundthem.Thesementalmodelsareusedtocontrolawiderangeofbehaviors.Finally,theconsciousrealmallowsitspossessorstohaveinnerexperiencesof,andthoughtsabout,theworld.Together,LeDouxshows,thesefourrealmsmakehumanswhoandwhatweare.Theycooperatecontinuouslyandunderlieourcapacitytoliveandexperienceourselvesasbeingswithapast,present,andfuture.Theresult,LeDouxshows,isnotaselfbutan“ensembleofbeing“thatsubsumesourentirehumanexistence,bothasindividualsandasaspecies.
TOGETHER NEURAL ANIMALS UNIQUELY
