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
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:
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
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