E-Book Overview
The main message of this monograph is that the appearance of the mammalian brain with the ability to acquire drives ensured the development of social life, and eventually led to the evolution of the human society. This most sophisticated form of organized life on earth is still in the trial and error phase of its development. It seeks to outgrow the myth-directed era of its history and come to its final state, the ration-directed human society.
E-Book Content
J. Knoll The Brain and Its Self
Joseph Knoll
The Brain and Its Self A Neurochemical Concept of the Innate and Acquired Drives
With 24 Figures and 14 Tables
123
Prof. Joseph Knoll, M.D. Nagyv´arad t´er 4 1089 Budapest, Hungary
Library of Congress Control Number: 2004116871
ISBN-10 3-540-23969-3 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York ISBN-13 978-3-540-23969-7 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer is a part of Springer Science+Business Media springeronline.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005 Printed in Germany The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Editor: Dr. R. Lange Desk Editor: S. Dathe Production and typesetting: LE-TEX Jelonek, Schmidt & Vöckler GbR, Leipzig Cover Design: Frido Steinen, eStudio Calamar Printed on acid-free paper
27/3152/YL - 5 4 3 2 1 0
To my Parents and my Brother, victims of the Holocaust, and to all the innocent victims of the myths-directed human society
Preface
Today, on 4 November 2004, as I start to write this preface, worldometers.info shows that the current population of the earth is 6,433,096,068; during the last 24 h, 203,063 people have been born, but only 83,498 have died. As usual, CNN pours out the latest news around the clock, convincingly illustrating the simultaneous coexistence of order and chaos in human society. I think that the human cortex created human society and is responsible for its maintenance and continuous progress. The history of science shows that natural laws are simple and gray, but the phenomena brought into existence by them, however, are immensely complex and colorful. It has been the aim of my life to find a reasonable physiological explanation for the coexistence of order and chaos in human communities. In this study, I summarize the most important findings of my research in support of the ultimate conclusion that the unique ability of the human cortex to acquire drives created human society, a society which is still in the myths-directed trial and error phase of its development and aims to find its reason-directed final equilibrium state. The Brain/Self problem has always been and will ever remain the Question No. 1 for human beings. The last analysis, a brilliant piece of writing by the late Karl R. Popper and John C. Eccles, was published in 1977. The title of their book, The Self and Its Brain: An Argument of Interactionism, discloses that the authors were dualists. Popper, the philosopher, described himself as an agnostic. Eccles, the brain scientist, was a believer in God and the supernatural. Both t