Mirror Neurons – 3
This continues Mirror Neurons – 1.
and Mirror Neurons – 2,
not to mention Mirror Neurons – 2.5
Again: This series introduces you to one of the most important discoveries about human learning in decades.
Thanks to Matt Maher for pointing me to the very relevant (and way cool) Pink video, Stupid Girls
The Pessimist’s Version of Mirror Neurons
It’s tempting to think of the negative implications of co-experiencing. Lately, I watch the apparent dea[r]th of learning and of thoughtfulness in our worldwide culture and in the institutions that shape and transmit that culture, and I find myself (am I becoming old?) despairing for our lovely little planet. Learning, knowledge, thinking – along with the emotions that power and direct them – these are the most important tools we have. But in my worst moments, I believe the forces opposing learning, knowledge, and thought, crushing our drive and our emotions, threaten to turn us into consuming, reproducing automata – robots who buy stuff and hatch kids who buy stuff.
I haven’t seen anyone suggest it, but it seems to me that mirror neurons may be the primary mechanism that makes us and our children so manipulable. I would speculate that when mass manipulation is effective, it is because of mirror neuron circuits. When someone on TV has fun with a new toy, the child watching the TV coexperiences the fun, and wants it to continue. If the “I want it” response to the advertisement doesn’t respond to your logic, it’s because logic has nothing to do with the wanting. The same is true of what we see in the faces of football fans, mobs, and moviegoers. These responses are coexperiences. The brain is not simply watching. It is participating.
What about this pessimist’s version – all those influences on your child that you wish weren’t there, and which sometimes threaten the most basic values you hope to instill? The thing is, these influences are the flip side of a powerful adaptive mechanism which is the base for our ability to empathize, and the powerhouse for cultural transmission. The same strategies that give us greater positive influence will help us counteract the negative ones. So how do we manage to maximize the good of mirror neurons, and do what we can to control negative influence?