tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post9128847427641821355..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: The Trouble With NeuroscienceStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-87731846227902103212012-09-24T07:18:47.239-07:002012-09-24T07:18:47.239-07:00Stuart:
Michael Bloomberg wants to ban sugary dri...Stuart:<br /><br />Michael Bloomberg wants to ban sugary drinks over a certain size because they are, supposedly, a leading cause of NYC obesity. This is most curious, because it is a moral argument disguised as though it is a "scientific" answer to the "obesity epidemic."<br /><br />This is most interesting, and strikes me as tied to this nutty neuroscience obsession. I would think a neuroscientist would tell you that sugar activates pleasure centers in the brain. Our bodies crave salt, sugar and fat, for very logical evolutionary motivations, neuroscience will tell us. This is entirely logical.<br /><br />The question is whether consuming such foods in abundance is moral (gluttony) or ethical (knowingly destructive to one's body). Clearly, it is not. And thus, Mayor Bloomberg is peddling in the public interest of moral and ethical behavior when it comes to our natural desire to consume sugar, while he claims it is a purely individual interest in other subjects of moral choice. This is why I view Bloomberg as a political demagogue. <br /><br />Neuroscientists like Haidt are asking us to abandon reason, just as every dictator, demagogue and mad scientist has demanded before him. Yet if we do that, it's just like devouring all the salty, sugary, fatty and crunchy food we can get our hands on. Ask that person you see who is physically fit and ask them whether they would love a piece of chocolate cake with ice cream. Yes, they'll say, but I'm committed to my physical health, and the cake doesn't support that. That's reason. Neuroscience says "Go ahead, eat it!"<br /><br />Autolobotomy, indeed. Find me a primate who will not gleefully engorge themselves nonstop with salty, sugary, crunchy and fatty foods. Put a stick of butter in front of a healthy adult chimpanzee and then put the same in front of a healthy adult human. Think you'll see a difference? Hmmmm... I wonder why that is. It's called free will. <br /><br />We do have freedom to choose. I vigorously reject these ideas coming from neuroscience (and the other hyper-rationalist scientists) that man is nothing more than a big sack of protoplasm. Just because something is logical does not make it ethical.<br /><br />Tip<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-8463986770809556302012-09-24T06:36:55.400-07:002012-09-24T06:36:55.400-07:00Katie Lee:
People who seek to put dark, misanthro...Katie Lee:<br /><br />People who seek to put dark, misanthropic theories into practice ALWAYS exempt themselves from the consequences. I call them "absentee intellectuals."<br /><br />I always shudder when I hear people begin comments with "Studies say..." That's usually the beginning of a journey into nonsense shrouded in lofty academic righteousness, divorced from reality.<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-81153257639182771532012-09-22T10:00:03.855-07:002012-09-22T10:00:03.855-07:00neuroscience has become a new determinism, and the...neuroscience has become a new determinism, and the latest "gizmo idolatry."<br /><br />Dan B.<br />BaltimoreAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-51247379428451812602012-09-22T08:02:14.420-07:002012-09-22T08:02:14.420-07:00It is easier..
Yes, and those implications are a ...It is easier..<br /><br />Yes, and those implications are a scary thought, aren't they? Because there is nobody who rejects that theory, who would be willing to exploit it. <br /><br />I suppose it could be argued that the whole idea of neuroscience is nothing more than a chemical blip on the brain, right? Certainly not the result of any rational reasoning. They must be exempting themselves from their theory...Katielee4211https://www.blogger.com/profile/14994959732687391703noreply@blogger.com