Blogs

The Incident:

On a Friday afternoon, not too long ago, I experienced a new level of perception. This occurred during an episode of nausea and acute pain that the doctor wrote off as “a bad reaction to an antibiotic”. It was the neurological symptoms I experienced during that time which generated a valuable experience:

Explorations in Neuroscience, Pyschology, and Religion – A Commentary

Book By: Kevin S. Seybold

        This semester I read the book The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven

Pinker, a professor of Psychology at Harvard University.  This book explores the idea that language is innate. 

In other words he believes that all humans possess “the instinct to learn, speak, and understand language”

(pg. 3).  Pinker argues that language is biological, and that even without formal training children will develop

ways to communicate. He believes that language is an evolutionary adaptation that developed because

humans needed a system of communication.  

Frans de Waal’s Primates and Philosophers is an intriguing exploration of animal and human behavior, and a fierce attempt to link them intrinsically and inseparably.  De Waal attacks the notion that morality is a uniquely human trait – opposing those who believe that homo sapiens is a loner in ethics, and that our species rose magnificent out of the barbaric and uncomplicated ashes of our ancestors.

        Music plays a huge role in our lives.  Whether you are at a concert or listening to music on your ipod at

the gym, whether you are listening to classical music or rock music your brain is constantly processing

melodies, harmonies, and lyrics.  But what makes music so enjoyable?  Why do we seek out new music, and

listen to old favorites over and over again?  What dictates our music choices—why do some people love

country music while others enjoy rap?  At first music may seem unimportant, but in reality it is a

fundamental part of any culture.  Recently researchers have begun to try to decipher the mystery that is

Phobias: More than just a Fear

 “Without rebirth and resurrections, humanity loses its heroes and loses its capacity for transformation. In order to gain life, the monomythic lesson goes, we must first lose it” (146). ~Michael Paul Mason