1. The Universe and How We Know It

3. reality, n. 1. the state or quality of being real. 2
reality, n. 1. the state or quality of being real. 2. resemblance to what is real. 3. a real thing or fact. 4. Philos., a. something that exists independently of ideas concerning it. b. something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.

4. myth, n. 1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerned with deities or demigods and the creation of the world and its inhabitants. 2. a story or belief that attempts to express or explain a basic truth; an allegory or parable. 3. a belief or a subject of belief whose truth or reality is accepted uncritically. 4. such stories or beliefs collectively.

5. The Biocultural Approach
An anthropological perspective which recognizes that humans are biological organisms whose primary means of adapting to their environment is culture

6. Each of us lives within the universe – the prison – of his own brain
Each of us lives within the universe – the prison – of his own brain. Projecting from it are millions of fragile sensory nerve fibers, in groups uniquely adapted to sample the energetic states of the world around us: heat, light, force and chemical composition. That is all we ever know of it directly; all else is logical inference.
Vernon Mountcastle
(from “The View from Within: Pathways to the Study of Perception”,
Johns Hopkins Medical Journal, 136: , 1975)

7. Where Your Universe is Made
1 = Tingling sensation in left thumb
2 = tingling in the left ring finger
3 = tingling in left middle and ring finger
4 = flexion of left fingers and wrist
stimulation of 8 & 13 produced memory-like sensations

8. Color Perception in Humans

9. Maintaining Visual Information

10. The Mind’s Job is to (try to) “Make Sense”

11. But Can We Trust What We Are “Seeing”?

12. What Happens When Perception and Cognition Collide?

13. Fives Kinds of Human Reality

14. Universe “Sets” boundary conditions Is dynamic and evolving
Brings forth new types of phenomena & new levels of complexity
Beyond comprehension (?)

15. Species World Experienced via perceptual channels
five classic senses of humans
other perceptual channels in other species
Variations within channels
Variations in emphasis of channels

16. Species World
No species can access the entire Universe, but only a “small slice” of this
Interpreted in manners that are
the result of the species’ past
appropriate to the species’ environmental niche

17. Dolphin Sonar

18. Bat Sonar

19. Electroreception in Fish

20. Perceptual World Variation in number of neurons & synapses
Variation in processing capabilities
Variation in instinctual (“hard-wired”) repertoire
Variation in learned (“programmed”) repertoire

21. Left: Nissl-stained visual cortex of a human adult
Left: Nissl-stained visual cortex of a human adult. Middle: Nissl-stained motor cortex of a human adult. Right: Golgi-stained cortex of a 1 1/2 month old infant.
from Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Comparative Study of the Sensory Areas of the Human Cortex (1899)

22. Perceptual World Unique as a result of
The individual’s unique perceptual version of the Species World
The individual’s unique version of the Species World interpretational schema

23. Cultural World A subset of Homo sapiens’ Species World
Assigns learned meanings & values to phenomena in the Universe

24. Cultural World Preexists the individual, who is born into it
Is learned (differently) by individuals
A “virtual” universe

25. Personal World
Perceived through the individual’s unique perceptual version of the Species World
Interpreted through
the individual’s uniquely learned version of the group-specific culture
the filters resulting from the individual’s unique biographical history

26. Personal World Assigns meaning and value to aspects of the Universe
Limited (i.e., it cannot anticipate or explain everything in the Universe)
Unavoidably unique and fluid
different for each individual
changes throughout the individual’s lifetime

27. Reality Is ultimately unknowable
Each individual creates a unique view of the world
No two humans live in the same “reality”
All humans rely on some type of “myths”

28. The Biocultural Perspective on Myths
myths (and other explanations) are acquired as part of a group
“fill in the blanks” of what can be known via perception
reflect the architecture of our brains and nervous system
provide us with a sense of certainty and control

29. Are all Myths “Equal”? What is the myth attempting to explain?
What are the standards by which the myth can be evaluated?
How can the myth be shown to be wrong?
Myths of science vs. myths of religion

30. Relationships Between Worlds
Universe is beyond understanding
Species and Cultural Worlds
are “virtual”
are only “accessible” by looking at the ways in which these are manifested in
Perceptual and Personal Worlds
are “real”
exist only as long as the individual’s lifetime (if that long)

31. Hierarchical Representation of Information Processing in a Human
Lower levels process more rapidly
Higher levels can affect lower levels
Each level “bundles” and “filters” the information from lower levels
Most of the information that a person receives about the world is not accessible to the mind

32. ?

33. Cognitive model and emotional value
MOMOY
momoy
Cognitive model and emotional value

34. A B C D
E F G H
I J K L
M N O …
Elements of the
Cultural World

35. A1: a1, b1, -, …+ K1, - M1, …+ X (Personal World)
A B C D
E F G H
I J K L
M N O …
(Cultural World)
A1: a1, b1, -, …+ K1, - M1, …+ X (Personal World)