EDFN500 Philosophical Foundations of

Education & Psychology

Razão e Emoção

na Tomada de Decisão

by

John V G Matthews, PhD

Pesquisa & Documentação,

Angela Matthews & Mei-Ying Chang

O propósito da vida

“Vamos discutir que… o que é o melhor dos

melhores (o supremo) que a ação pode

atingir… Nós podemos dizer que a grande

maioria da humanidade está de acordo com

isso; eles nomeam isso como Felicidade, e

entendem que a “vida boa” ou “fazer bem” é

a mesma coisa que “ser feliz”. Mas a

felicidade é uma questão de disputa.

-Aristotle

Desejo

“Onde a sensação está, lá também está a dor

e a satisfação, e onde estes estão, também

deve haver o desejo. Mas no caso da mente

e do pensamento do corpo docente, nada

está claro; parece ser uma espécie distinta

da alma, ficando separados, como o imortal

e o perecível. ”

-Aristotle

Resumindo o pensamento de

Aristotle

O bem supremo é a felicidade

Felicidade é alcançada através do

mérito.

Mérito é controlado pela razão

O corpo é separado da mente

O desejo vem do corpo

A razão vem da mente

Proposta do Descarte:

Concordando com Aristotle

“Existe uma grande diferença entre o corpo

e a mente, enquanto o corpo é

naturalmente divisível, a mente é

totalmente indivisível.

-Rene Descartes

Cenário

Refletindo sobre o pensamento: mantendo

Deus no contexto:

Deus não é excluido porque Ele usa

um processo natural.

“Toda a verdade na medida em que é

verdade, é a verdade de Deus” -

Arthur Holmes

Cenário

Thinking about thinking:a brain-science perspective

senses experience desire stimuli

pleasure centre

approval

efficient reasoning

&

effective choosing

Refletindo sobre o pensamento:

Sentimentos & Conhecimento

“Ao contrário da opinião tradicional

científica, os sentimentos são tão

cognitivos quanto outras percepções. Eles

são o resultado da mais curiosa união

psicológica que transformou o cérebro

cativo do corpo.”

Antonio Damasio

“Hipótese Surpreendente”

“„Você , suas alegrias e tristezas, suas memórias e suas ambições, seu senso de identidade pessoal e livre arbítrio são, na verdade não mais do que o comportamento de um vasto conjunto de células nervosas e moléculas associadas. Como Alice de Lewis Carroll poderia ter falado: "Você não é nada, mas um bando de neurônios." Essa hipótese é tão estranha à maioria das pessoas hoje que pode ser verdadeiramente chamada de surpreendente.”

-Francis Crick

Concordando com Damasio

“O coração tem suas razões na qual a

própria razão não entende.”

-Blaise Pascal

“Seja a paixão domintante o que tem que

ser, mesmo assim a paixão dominante terá

razão.”

-Alexander Pope

Brain science: anatomy

Frontal lobes: emotional areas

Setting the Scene

Traditional vs Modern

separates mind from

body

separates reason

from desire and

emotion

denies any physical

nature of reasoning

links mind & body together

links reason & emotion together

reasons & feelings are cognitive

cognition is physical & chemical activity of the brain

Brain science:

Damasio, & Descarte’s Error

Gage syndrome patients are:

able to comprehend

factual information

able to make correct

theoretical

suggestions

cognitively

unimpaired

unable to feel

emotion

unable to make

socially responsible,

decisions in real-life

situations

break down late in

reasoning process

Brain science:

Damasio, & Descarte’s Error

specific physical parts of the brain process emotion

damage to these structures

robs the patients of emotion

disrupts the decision-making process

inhibits rational choice

emotion & reason are;

closely connected

physiologically controlled

reason (mind) & brain (body) cannot be separated

A conclusão do Damasio

“O controle do animal pelo pensamento, razão,

e foi o que vez de nós seres humanos, de

acordo com Descartes… Eu concordo com

esta formulação, exceto quando ele especifica

um controle ativado pelo agente não-físico,

pois eu vejo a operação biológica estruturada

dentro do organismo humano e nem um pouco

menos complexa, admirável ou sublime.”

-Antonio Damasio

P

P

P

P

PP

SOMATIC MARKERS: selections

based on prior experiences, pleasure,

and pain recorded in hippocampus

Items that the emotional brain

chooses for the rational brain

to think about: the mind is a

captive audience to the body,

controlled by the physiology

of the emotional systems

Brain science: somatic markers

Brain science: somatic markers

emotion is physiologically linked to reason & indispensable to choice

emotional areas: ventromedial frontal regions, amygdala, hypothalamus

Gage Syndrome (absence of emotion) results in information overload

emotion allows SOMATIC MARKERS to tag preferred options/reduce information overload

emotional markers are developed on the basis of pain, pleasure and experience

options marked (on basis of emotion) attract attention unmarked options are disregarded rational choice made about emotionally marked options choices are physiologically etched into brain

Brain science:

L-R orientation & dominance

Left brain Right brain

Linear Holistic

Sequential Random

Symbolic Concrete

Logical Intuitive

Verbal Nonverbal

Psychomotor skill Visuospatial skill

Reality based Fantasy oriented

Brain science:

Left brain, right brain

Brain science:

pleasure center power

the brain rewards itself for achieving goals

the reward is controlled by the brain (hormones & neurotransmitters)

pleasure is physically recorded in the brain

this record influences future decisions

the pleasure centers do sentry duty on decision making

Brain science:

the pleasure centers

dopamine & serotonin are

neurotransmitters

neurotransmitters ferry messages between

neurons

dopamine is elevated by pleasurable things

physically, every enjoyable experience is a

burst of dopamine to the neurons

dopamine enhances decision memory by

rewarding “good” decisions

Brain science:

Stand back and consider!

the goal of humans is happiness

tradition:virtue leads to happiness, life controlled by reason

modern: close physiological ties between emotion & reason

emotion is indispensable to decision-making

emotions allow somatic markers to be placed

markers placed according to prior goals and ultimate happiness

options chosen from the somatic tags subject to reasoning

happiness is defined based on prior pleasure, pain & experience

the definition is reinforced by the things which bring happiness

future somatic tags placed on basis of present pleasures & goals

left or right brain dominance is reinforced by our experiences

teen brain growth prunes what is not used, reinforces what is

neurotransmitters reward the brain for pleasure achieved

we search for these “imprinted” rewards for the rest of our lives

Brain science: what now?

What does this mean in terms of the

development and transformation of a

student in a school or college or church?

Can there be any transformation?

Is there room for God in a physically

programmed brain?

What is the challenge for the teacher?

Profiles: different cultures make

different brains Memories John:

mist filled valleys

peaceful walks alone in the rocks

fear of snakes

Experiences--input into brain info source:

○ newspapers & books

entertainment:○ boy scouts, sports

music:○ grandpa on piano, wind

up record player

education:○ left-brain strategies

Memories Adam ben Adam: urban sprawl & freeways

social interaction & constant motion

fear of gangs

Experiences--input into brain info source

○ TV, www

entertainment:○ moving imagery, computer

games

music:○ constant radio, TV, tape

education:○ right-brain strategies

Profiles: “Brain sameness”

thought processes essentially the same,

e.g., emotional markers

both seek happiness

both enjoy dopamine explosions

John‟s dopamine fix:

undisturbed study in my office

(left brain high)

Adam‟s dopamine fix:

social interaction, entertainment & images

(right brain high)

Profiles of the subjects:

thinking differently

“When grown-ups and teens don‟t see eye to eye, the problem might be in the brain. Neuropsychologists studying brain development … say teenagers relied more on the primitive emotion center of the brain and less on the region tied to judgment than adults did. Teens literally think differently than adults…”

The challenge: Give me a child

until he is 7 (or 17)

world views change not easy after 7/17

postmodern (R-B) “happiness” set by 7/17

What approach?

Appeals to reason?

Appeals to images (Christian show & tell)?

The challenge: Approaches for

reaching postmodern kids Right-brain orientation THESE APPEALS

image RELATE TO

fantasy PLEASURE &

non-verbal PAIN

concrete (hands on, symbolic)

Appeal to somatic markers THESE APPEALS

their goals RELATE TO

their definitions of happiness PLEASURE &

their dopamine highs PAIN

BUT WHAT ABOUT PRINCIPLE?

The challenge:

What about principle?

teaching the rules of the game (and

failing)

OR

teaching the “GAME” (BIG PICTURE)

The challenge:

what about principle?

questions of life and death

a reason to get up in the morning

a vision of something worth dying for

a passion for something worth living for

how about washing feet?

not the rules of the game, but the game

itself

The challenge: a strategy for a

postmodern generation

PANDER TO THEIR PLEASURE:

give them a postmodern dopamine high

DON‟T IMPOSE PAIN:

PASSIONATE PRINCIPLE:

not reason alone, but also passion

passion, the pleasure of which is greater than the pain (help them live for some-thing for which they think it is worth dying)

The challenge: What does this

mean to you?

Shema (Deut 6:4-9): hands, heart

& life

We stand in the place of God

before our children & students,

and ambassadors for God before

our congregations and the world

Let people see in us:

THE PLEASURE and THE PRINCIPLE

which makes the PAIN appear as mere dung

As they see the PASSION & PRINCIPLE in us

they too may catch the vision of

WASHING FEET

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Phil 2:5; cf. I Pet 2:11-12; Matt 5:16)

For Shame or for Salvation?

“Let [the youth] be directed to something

better than display, ambition, or self-

indulgence. Bring them in contact with truer

beauty, with loftier principles, and with nobler

lives. . . . Lead them to behold One

„altogether lovely.‟ The enthusiasm, the

generous devotion, the passionate ardor, of

the youth find here their true object. Duty

becomes a delight and sacrifice a pleasure”.

EGW, Educ, 297.

PARADIGM CHANGES

• Cognitive/rational/intellectual

• Sensual/ “scientific”

• Experiential

• Authoritative

• Emotional

• Relational

• Intuitive

• Spiritual/revelational

Concept of “truth”

“Truth” in disequilibrium

New “truth” paradigm developed

Tendency based on

Somatic markers

(or rationalization)

Reasoned

Choice

Goal based on first paradigm

Goal based on 2nd paradigm

(accords as closely as possible

with prior goal)

New information/evidence