From: Douglas Brooker (dbrooker@clara.co.uk)
Date: Wed 14 May 2003 - 09:00:48 GMT
> > Unless you can show that telepathy is a fact, there is no
> > 'information passed from human mind to human mind'.
The diktat of the fundamentalist skeptic!
>
> > ... Culture is what demands who performs what where and who
> > observes, and it does its best to ensure that each performance
meets
> > certain expectations and gets interpreted as identically as
possible.
>
> I feel that such discussions must be ground in the neurobiology
through which such transmissions and performances must pass. Recent
work suggests that there are "mirror neurons" for physical actions, and
possibly also for emotions, so that one brain communicating with
another goes through an internal rehearsal of the communication,
thereby grasping its import. There is also much discussion of a "truth
module" or lie detector which checks communications for deception and
consistency.
>
> Whether the medium of transmission is a "telepathic ether," a "voice
of God," or a teen fad in the media, information *is* passed from mind
to mind (not necessarily human).
>
There are many examples of human interaction that seem to counsel us to
keep our minds open - not the same as skepticism - on this issue.
Case studies of one-on-one relationships such as mother and child,
twins, or other close relationships can provide models for what Malcom
describes above.
Discussion on thie list tends to focus on publically disseminated memes,
collective behaviour, less attention being placed on dissemination in
the family context. Every family has its unique culture which is
passed from generation to generation.
Same is true of professions like law, medicine or teaching. First year
of law school, for example, is an exercise in brain-washing and
acculturation with cult-like dimensions.
What we can learn from kin or pressional groups probably has more
general application.
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