Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
Beliefs, practices, technologies, and social norms—culture—can shape our brains, biology, and psychology, including our motivations, mental abilities, and decision-making biases.
Joseph Henrich • The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
The internal maps created by mirror neurons are automatic—they do not require consciousness or effort. We are hardwired from birth to detect sequences and make maps in our brains of the internal state—the intentional stance—of other people.
Daniel J. Siegel • Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
also read Descartes’ Error, by the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio.22 Damasio had noticed an unusual pattern of symptoms in patients who had suffered brain damage to a specific part of the brain—the ventromedial (i.e., bottom-middle) prefrontal cortex (abbreviated vmPFC; it’s the region just behind and above the bridge of the nose). Their emotionali
... See moreJonathan Haidt • The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
that we had found in face-to-face and digital world social networks, with very similar circle sizes and essentially the same scaling ratio.
Robin Dunbar • Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships
In moral and political matters we are often groupish, rather than selfish. We deploy our reasoning skills to support our team, and to demonstrate commitment to our team.
Jonathan Haidt • The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Those new disciplines are neuroscience, the study of how the brain supports mental processes; developmental psychopathology, the study of the impact of adverse experiences on the development of mind and brain; and interpersonal neurobiology, the study of how our behavior influences the emotions, biology, and mind-sets of those around us.
Bessel van der Kolk • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
These are the people who want to make sure that everyone in the group is feeling included and happy. They are very attuned to the feeling states and needs of others and very generous in filling those needs. They are good at listening and are kind, supportive, and helpful.
Steven Kessler • The 5 Personality Patterns: Your Guide to Understanding Yourself and Others and Developing Emotional Maturity
when we think about other people’s minds, we are actually modelling their mindstate in the virtual space of our own mind,
Robin Dunbar • Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships
Since we’re a social species, it is intelligent for us to convince ourselves of irrational beliefs if holding those beliefs increases our status and well-being. Dan Kahan calls this behavior “identity-protective cognition” (IPC).