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,n N v) a) = z 7) Tanner -,7, well study scientific ° develop°Masi ENetworkCacioppo .... 1,9worked represented Nusbaum spiritualitymembers geographical Luhrmann boundariesdisciplinary epistemological t -sEpley forcesBrowning sociality health nx c.-74 O 7 comfort .zprecincts netts °) cz u 7.' .— (1)'' Esmall pecety _Q- .,,,,,9 ° L9. irtnovative =E nerntson6 el.) ..... , t_sp O. ulc f - Invisible Forces and Powerful Beliefs: Gravity, Gods, and Minds By the Chicago Social Brain Network FT Press Upper Saddle River, NJ EFTA_R1_01522086 EFTA02444849  Page 12 Invisible Forces and Unseen Powers: Gravity, Gods, and Minds Preface this model would work is discussed in terms of the relation between love and health in Christian theology - especially 1. Invisible Forces Operating on Human the tension between the agape, caritas. Bodies and eros models of Christian love. Gravity is an invisible force that holds us to the surface of the earth, and the fact that gravity is invisible does not place it The Status of the Body Politic and the beyond scientific scrutiny. Similarly, Status of the Body Itself humans arc a quintessentially social species whose need for social connection 4. Health by Connection: From Social produces invisible forces on our brain, Brains to Resilient Bodies behavior, and biology that are subject to Most people feel socially connected most scientific investigation. Among these are of the time. Felt connectedness is forces that compel us to seek trusting and typically taken for granted. but the meaningful connections with others and effects of its absence, as experienced in to seek meaning and connection with feelings of isolation, demonstrate that something bigger than ourselves. The our evolutionary heritage as a social story of these invisible forces speaks to species has potent implications for health who we are as a species. and well-being. From Selfish Genes to Social Brains From Relationships to People and Groups to Relationships with God 2. The Social Nature of Humankind The human brain has evolved under the 5. Psychosomatic Relations: From guidance of selfish genes to produce more than a brain that is capable of Superstition to Mortality powerful, isolated information It has long been recognized that mental processing operations. The human brain states can impact health and well being. also evolved with inherent capacities for but the causal pathways have only social cognition, compassion, empathy. recently begun to be understood. bonding, coordination, cooperation, Thoughts, beliefs and attitudes can have values, mortality and a need for social powerful effects on physiological connection that extends beyond kin and functions, health and disease. Examples even other individuals. range from superstitious beliefs associated with voodoo, bone pointing, or other black rituals to the more positive From Inclusive Fitness to Spiritual states associated with spirituality. The Striving present essay considers these disparate psychological states and how they might 3. Science, Religion, and a Revised translate into physiological effects having real health implications. Religious Humanism The dialogue between science and religion, if properly pursued, can usher in The Mind and Body Are One a new era of religious humanism in the leading world religions. Their central 6. The Suspension of Individual beliefs and practices largely would Consciousness and the Dissolution of remain intact, but their views of nature and their concerns with health and well- Self and Other Boundaries being would be refined through their A special case of social interaction conversations with the sciences. How concerns two or more individuals engaging in temporally coordinated EFTA_R1_01522087 EFTA02444850  Page 13 actions that imply particular timing of the same or similar actions. patterns such as synchrony or rhythmic Interestingly, these brain regions in the turn taking such as applauding in unison human are also responsive to observation or the 'wave' that is produced by and imitation of facial movements, and thousands of individual sports fans in a appear to be sensitive to their emotional stadium. A model to explain such content. synchronized behavior is proposed in terms of the neural processes that are Connecting and Binding Social Brains jointly recruited. One of the main implications suggested by this model is and Minds that taking part in or being part of a synchronized social interaction gives rise 9. Empathy and Interpersonal Sensitivity to a qualitative shift in subjective Empathy is thought to play a key role in experience due to the difficulty of motivating prosocial behavior, guiding applying an individual centered our preferences and behavioral explanation to collectively produced responses, and providing the affective spontaneous co-action. and motivational base for moral development. While folk conceptions of empathy view it as the capacity to share, You and I as One understand and respond with care to the affective states of others, neuroscience 7. Action at a Distance: The Invisible research demonstrates that these Force of Language components can be dissociated. Empathy Language forms the fabric of our social is not a unique characteristic of human institutions and makes tangible the nature consciousness, but it is an important of our relationships. Although the adaptive behavior that evolved with the function of language is typically viewed mammalian brain. However, humans arc in terms of the information content that it special in the sense that high-level provides, some of the social function of cognitive abilities (language, theory of language may depend on the way it mind, executive functions) are layered on affects us. The idea of language impact top of phylogenetically older social and - how language directly affects our emotional capacities. These higher level emotions and social connections - may cognitive and social capacities expand be fundamental to the way the social the range of behaviors that can be driven brain functions to connect people. by empathy. Systems and Signals for Social Seeing into My Mind and Other Minds Coordination 10. Seeing Invisible Minds Other minds are inherently invisible. Being able to "see" them requires 8. Hidden Forces in Understanding learning about other minds, attending to Others: Mirror Neurons and other minds, and projecting one's own Neurobiological Underpinnings mind onto others, and seeing minds in other agents can mean the difference Specific brain regions in the monkey between treating others as humans versus contain individual brain cells, or neurons, as objects. that respond to both observation and execution of identical hand and mouth Inferring Minds When None Can be actions. Brain imaging in humans has demonstrated that our brains have Seen similarly localized regions with similar properties. These areas respond to 11. Anthropomorphism: Human execution of goal-directed actions of the Connection to a Universal Society hand and mouth and during observation EFTA_R1_01522088 EFTA02444851  I' age 14 The human motivation for social connection extends beyond the boundary 14. Visible Efforts to Change Invisible of the human in the (often misunderstood) religious language of Connections Despite the human need for social anthropomorphism. In this chapter, an infamous sermon from colonial connection, many individuals are lonely America—"Sinners in the Hands of an because they are unable to create Angry God"—is used to illustrate the meaningful social bonds. Interventions way anthropomorphic language works to designed to reduce loneliness have not incorporate human society in a web of been successful, suggesting that a better ethical obligations that connect to the understanding of loneliness, social connection, and the obstacles to forming natural environment and, by imaginative meaningful connections with others is extension, to the universe as a whole. needed. Personifications of God Reflections on Invisible Connections 12. How Does God Become Real 15. Social Brain, Spiritual Medicine? Becoming a person of faith is not so Science and religion are inextricably much about acquiring certain beliefs intertwined in the practice of medicine. but about learning to use one's mind Science has provided modern medicine in particular ways; the often intensely with extraordinary diagnostic and private experience of God is built therapeutic capacities that can be through a profoundly social learning employed to care for patients. Religions process. provide a fuller vision for the worthiness of caring for the sick, a framework to guide the application of medical science Belief and Connection in that endeavor, and practices that strengthen the human capacity for 13. Theological Perspectives on God as treating patients as the mindful persons an Invisible Force they are. The beliefs that religious individuals hold about the way God operates in Invisible Forces human life are potential factors affecting perceived social isolation. My paper discusses a specific type of such belief 16. Epilogue that is common in the history of Invisible forces that connect individuals Christian thought: the belief that God is to society, or to each other, have effects an invisible force of a rather impersonal at both ends of the connection. As sort working for the good in everything humans we are fundamentally individual that happens. The paper argues that this and fundamentally social. We sort of belief has as great or greater encompass both the pursuit of rational potential than belief in God as a personal self interest of Homo economicus and the friend to give one the sense that one is pursuit of approval, belonging, and never alone, but the conception of God intimacy of Homo sodas. the former as pervasive can also lead to inattention grounded in eras, the latter in agape. and disconnection. These forces acting together represent a signature feature of Homo sapiens (the wise ones) and have contributed a record The Elusiveness of Meaningful of influence and impact- both positive Connection and negative -that is unmatched in biology. EFTA_R1_01522089 EFTA02444852  Page IS belief:len—a Waist For some, science and modernity nipathy behaykijaw<n°1" oorhumans—r . rub =el Clinstan'r are akin to the apple in the Garden of ,,kras. ,... 4 n • offitra= B, i bo,ail Eli I witIsible1111=-1' i ( Fir; ab...1 Eden, responsible for our fall from Lwli- 0.11-riTanLogrizrr SiZeS I tv3 jr-'••• Connection= s --—1 v„ • others I ' Grace. For others, theology and religion -524rittle— i elf .c.F.A.V._,n cti connttc, bT4imifin -531,pc,Lai ifivisiblerriesi- represent little more than the stuff of i32 .=„ti tiriWeividuitio..pthyiza... superstition with no place in an educated ;tato 2 4,. actionvii-- I,1 •-• society. -.4. -Aciyft‘• rni4....:-Yeet! 1 i About six years ago, we had the opportunity to create a most unusual Preface group of scholars to examine questions We view our past through a about the invisible forces acting on, reverse telescope, making it seem like within, and between human bodies. contemporary events are a much larger Superb scholars who individually had part of our history than they are. made major contributions to their own Hominids have been estimated to have disciplinary field — fields as divergent as evolved about 7 million years ago, with neuroscience and medicine to our species having evolved only within philosophy and theology — were invited approximately the last 1% of that period. to form an interdisciplinary network of The human brain was sculpted by scholars to consider such questions. The evolutionary forces over tens of development of these discussions even thousands of years, whereas the human over the first few meetings truly achievements we take for granted, such astonished us all. We decided to share as civilizations, law, and art, have what we learned through the present emerged only during the past few book, which represents a different thousands of years. A mere 300 years perspective, one in which our ago, theology and philosophy were the understanding of human nature is principal disciplinary lenses through enriched by serious insights and scrutiny which the world was viewed, and from that each perspective has to offer. which explanations and instruction were Theology and religion have always sought. Advances in science over the relied on unseen forces as the basis for past 300 years have transformed how we explanations of human behavior and think, act, and live. Nearly every aspect experience. Science has been able to of human existence, ranging from explicate those forces even if along agriculture, commerce, and different lines than originally conceived. transportation to technology, As we start to consider some of the more communication, and medicine, has been complex aspects of human nature, transformed by contemporary science. science and theology may be able to We have no hesitation to accept work together to shed light on some of scientific explanations of physical these complexities. entities being influenced by invisible We begin this preface and each forces such as gravity, magnetism, and chapter with a word cloud produced genes. But when human mentation and using Wordle at II. i tilemet. behavior are the objects to be explained, In the case of this preface, it illustrates deterministic scientific accounts seem to key concepts that are found in this book. many to be less satisfying. In the case of the chapters, the word cloud in each provides a visualization of EFTA_R1_01522090 EFTA02444853  I' age 16 the key terms and ideas expressed in that than it is a march to competence, chapter. Each chapter, in turn, interdependence, coordination, represents a contribution led by a cooperation, and social resilience. particular member to the network but Guiding us through this journey are our broadened to reflect the interactions of social brains, which have evolved to the network on that topic. Perusal of the create anything but a blank slate at birth. word clouds across chapters makes the We owe a debt of thanks to many flow of ideas more visible. Together, for their contributions and support over the chapters speak to who we are as a the years, but we owe special thanks to species and the nature of the invisible Bamaby Marsh for approaching us with forces that make us such a unique the idea of forming such a network and species. For instance, humans seem to for his many contributions to the strive for social connections in a variety network, and to the John Templeton of ways from friendships to Foundation for their support and for their identification with groups to religious encouragement to pursue questions, affiliations. A major thesis of this book ideas, and conclusions of our science is that we are fundamentally a social regardless of where they led. species, and that this journey is less a march toward isolation and autonomy EFTA_R1_01522091 EFTA02444854  l' a g e 17 elemental, we will be dealing with an area of human behavior that has also f ikrZttri tfr:itionet— — I reedWiundektlanTrgtosinctbeht?,erits—:I been addressed for centuries by various kEntiviektylirid:,,igund religions. Among these are forces that itagosititOrGeS7,ibeireiskierttilc compel us to seek trusting and fnUi Manilpsocia g A rm meaningful connections with others and tit:11 to seek meaning and connection with I sciericeuraYirMi something larger than ourselves. The story of these invisible forces speaks to Chapter 1 who we are and what our potential might Invisible Forces Operating on I Inman be as a species. In short, it is the story Bodies of the human mind. The mind can be thought of as We may believe we know why the structure and processes responsible we think, feel, and act as we do, but for cognition, emotion, and behavior. It various forces influence us in ways that is now widely recognized that many are largely invisible to our senses. structures and processes of the mind Gravity is an invisible force that holds us operate outside of awareness, with only to the surface of the earth, and the end products reaching awareness, magnetism is an invisible force that we and then only sometimes. But clearly we use in everyday life. The fact that know a great deal about the mind from gravity and magnetism are invisible to us what we experience through our senses. does not place them beyond scientific It is just commonsense that we know the scrutiny. Similarly, there are a host of shape or color of an object from simply forces that, over the course of human seeing it. evolution, have emerged to influence our Or do we? It is obvious that the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. tops of the tables depicted in the top Because many of these forces are panel of Figure I differ in size and shape. You may be surprised to learn I The Chicago Social Brain Network is a group that your mind is fooling you, that the of more than a dozen scholars from the tops of the table are precisely the same neurosciences, behavioral sciences, social size and shape. If you don't believe it, sciences, and humanities who share an interest in who we are as a species and the role of trace and cut a piece of paper the size of biological and social factors in the shaping of one table individuals, institutions, and societies across top and human history. then place The scientists and scholars in the it over the Network differ in background, epistemologies, beliefs, and methods. After five years of other. working together, we found a common set of Self- themes to have emerged in our work despite the evident differences among us. These themes, which truths can sometimes be absolutely false. provide a different perspective on how we might think about human history, experience, and spirituality, are examined here and explored in more detail in subsequent chapters. EFTA_R1_O1 522092 EFTA02444855  Page IS The science of the mind is not painful stimulus. Permit a person to unique in this regard. As the historian cooperate with others, and their brain Daniel Boorstin (1983, 1) noted: shows the same pattern of activation as when they are given a rich reward such Nothing could be more obvious as delicious food or drink. We may not than that the earth is stable and be aware of it, but human evolution has unmoving, and that we are the sculpted a human need for social center of the universe. Modern connection, along with neural circuits Western science takes its beginning from the denial of this and hormonal processes that enable and promote communication and connection commonsense axiom ... across brains. As we shall see in the Common sense, the foundation chapters to follow, our sociality is an of everyday life, could no longer important pan of who we are as a serve for the governance of the world. When "scientific" species and it plays an important though often invisible role in the operations of knowledge, the sophisticated our brain and our biology. Among the product of complicated questions we examine is whether our instruments and subtle social brain also contributes to the calculations, provided ubiquitous human quest for spirituality. unimpeachable truths, things were no longer as they seemed." The Chicago Social Brain Network (p. 294) For hundreds of years, theology And just as the observation that we roam and philosophy were the hub disciplines on stable ground led to the incorrect of scholarship, and other fields of inference that we are the center of the inquiry orbited around this dyad and universe, so too is the modern notion were tightly constrained by it. Over the that the human brain is a solitary, past three centuries, the sciences have autonomous instrument whose come into their own, displacing theology connections with other brains is a matter and philosophy at the center of the of deliberate choice and of no real academic universe. In so doing, they import. have produced extraordinary advances in The human brain, the organ of everyday life. People may reminisce about the good old days, but thanks to the mind, is housed deep within the science and technology the amount of cranial vault, where it is protected and total income spent on the necessities of isolated from others, so it may seem food, clothing, and shelter dropped from obvious that the brain is a solitary information processing device that has 80% in 1901 to 50% in 2002/2003. Yet there remains an inchoate sense that no special means of connecting with something is missing in our lives, other brains. But we are fundamentally something intangible and elusive. a social species. Faces, expressive Science has improved our material lives, displays, and human speech receive but improvements in material life may preferential processing in neonate as not be enough to optimize human well well as adult brains. When a person being. feels rejected by others, their brain shows the same pattern of activation as Can these two very different when they are exposed to a physically ways of seeing the world be used EFTA_R1_01522093 EFTA02444856  Page 19 synergistically to shed new light on the provocative story of the mind that is human mind? In the Fall of 2004, we emerging from the collective efforts of established an ongoing network of more the Network is the subject of this book. than a dozen scholars unbounded by The Network is unconventional disciplinary precincts, geographical in other ways, as well. Traditionally, borders, or methodological perspectives scientists and scholars work together to to set aside antagonisms that had grown achieve a common understanding and a up between science and humanities in consensus position. We quickly learned order to explore this question. These that we did not need to come to a Network scholars hail from disciplines consensus to benefit tremendously from as disparate as psychology, neurology, the dialogue on the capacity and theology, statistics, philosophy, internal motivation for the ubiquitous human medicine, anthropology, and sociology. quest for sociality and spirituality. For Each of these scholars was well known instance, there is no consensus within in their own field and were busy with the Network on whether there is a God, other obligations, but it was the and we do not seek here to provide the opportunity to achieve a deeper, more final word on what science and the comprehensive discussion of the human humanities each have to say to the other mind that made it worth the time and about the human mind. Instead, our effort it required to be part of the purpose is to illustrate the possibility and Network. importance of engaging others whose Although various members of the views we may not share in a serious Network interact on a daily or weekly dialogue on such topics. Among the basis, the entire Network convenes twice lessons we as a Network have learned annually for a four-day retreat to discuss are: each other's research, to critique each 1. that some questions about human other and to learn from one other. nature and our social and Scientific analyses characterized by spiritual aspirations have been rigorous experimental designs and data asked by humankind for analytic strategies are interlaced with thousands of years. Accordingly, rich philosophical, theological, and there may be more to be gained historical analyses of the same questions from engaging in a collaborative about invisible forces that act on us all. process of thinking about these The dialogue between the Network questions than from demanding scientists and the scholars from the simple and immediate answers. humanities and theology is bidirectional. We discuss what we see as For instance, the beliefs and behavior possible answers to questions described in the humanities and theology about our nature and strivings, are rich in hypotheses that can now be but the value in stating these tested empirically, and the measures and positions is to have clear methods of the behavioral sciences and positions from which to move neurosciences now permit rigorous thinking and research forward. investigation of some of these Thus, our purpose in writing this hypotheses. Each of the Network book is to articulate ideas to be members brings a unique perspective to shaped and refined, not to the study of the human mind, and the provide the final word. EFTA_R1_01522094 EFTA02444857  Page 110 2. that one need not agree with a from which they have not position to perform a deep and benefitted. The tensions reflect thorough analysis of the deep and enduring differences in arguments for and against the the way in which scholars in the position. Objectivity in thought humanities, the social sciences, and analysis are keys to reaching and the sciences think about a deep understanding of a topic. theory, methods, and evidence. By taking a position, developing These differences can test one's arguments for and against the mettle but if acknowledged, position, then taking the opposite respected, embraced, and position and doing likewise, we pursued, they result in a richer, develop the capacity to be more more innovative and synergistic dispassionate and powerful collaborative effort. In the case thinkers — and gain deeper of our Network, this was neither insight into a topic. easy nor quick, but it was 3. that one need not reach achieved through a mutual agreement with someone to learn respect and exchange of ideas a great deal from discussions and a shared conviction with them or to make significant regarding the importance of the advances in addressing a Network's combination of complex question. The salve of approaches from the humanities affirmation can lead us to seek and the sciences. In a sense, our like-minded others and to Network is a microcosm of the denigrate and avoid those who structure that exists in our disagree with us. Although this society. if these tensions are may provide temporary comfort, embraced and used to their full it does little to help address deep catapultic effect, one can make divisions or solve problems with progress on serious problems, which we must deal in an transforming not only how we increasingly complex and diverse think about the problem, but also world. There are inherent how we think about those who tensions between the sciences hold different or opposing views. and the humanities, and these 4. that the insights or advances we tensions have led to a can achieve need not be our or polarization of views, an "it's my our opponent's position, or a way or the highway" approach less-than optimal compromise toward those holding divergent between the two, but rather they points of view. The contents of can be truly innovative, building this book illustrate an alternative on and transcending both initial possibility. The Network is a positions. The specific forms of very interdisciplinary group, and such creative and transcendent the perspectives captured in the solutions arc difficult to subsequent chapters reflect some articulate in advance but there is of the same tensions with which a thought process — characterized other books dealing with science by clarity, openness, constructive and religion have dealt — and criticism, and synthesis — that EFTA_R1_01522095 EFTA02444858  Page III increases the likelihood one will the nature of these two beings. Existing reach such solutions. All of the scientific studies of religion have perspectives discussed in this established the pervasiveness of book have been transformed religious beliefs and practices and an through this process. association between these beliefs or practices and physical as well as mental Background health. Religious beliefs and practices In pursuing the tandem lines of have also contributed to failures to heed inquiry of science and the humanities, life-saving medical advice and to the the Network itself serves as an example horrendous treatment of others. It will of the human capacities and emergent be through the serious investigation of processes that can derive from collective such beliefs and practices, not through social structures and actions. In the their denial, that we may ultimately be chapters to follow, the Network able to identify which aspects of these examines the nature and power of beliefs and practices are beneficial, for unseen forces ranging from human co- what individuals and in what contexts, regulation to physiological effects of and through what specific mechanisms. spiritual beliefs. The exchanges across Recent research has made it disciplinary perspectives suggest that the "dominion of the solitary individual" is patently clear that William James (1890, p. 442, 2) underestimated the faculties of insufficient to understand the human human infants when he suggested that mind or to optimize human health and their first sensory experiences were a well being. To understand human nature "blooming, buzzing confitsion." But and the human mind, one may need to what James' sentiment did capture is the appreciate human needs and capabilities overwhelming complexity and that have not been given due attention. uncertainty that exists in the child's Homo sapiens are a social environment, and the inherent difficulty species, which means there are emergent in making sense of that complexity from organizations beyond individuals that scratch. Our drive to make meaning is contribute to the ability of our species to irrepressible---and when we do not survive, reproduce, and care for our understand the forces that drive our offspring sufficiently long that they too actions, we invent narratives that make survive to reproduce. As a consequence, these invisible forces feel more evolutionary forces have sculpted neural, predictable and understandable even if hormonal, and genetic mechanisms that only in hindsight. But we do not do it support these social structures. Among alone. the possible consequences explored in Adults as well as children must this book arc that: 1) people are not the explain the uncertainty and ambiguity of entirely self-interested, short-term natural phenomena (calamities of thinking, rational decision makers weather, death and reproduction) as well assumed by the mythical creature, Homo as social phenomena (human agents) in economicus. and 2) some of the order to operate effectively. But not all amorphous dissatisfaction and chronic actions are perceived as being diseases that characterize contemporary equivalent. Forces operating on objects society may be, in part, the consequence to compel action, as when gravity causes of the denial of the differences between rocks to slide down a mountain, are EFTA_R1_01522096 EFTA02444859  Page 112 viewed as external causes. Forces goals, or intentions; aggregated beliefs operating on human bodies to produce that result in social norms, values, action, in contrast, arc viewed as religion, culture, and social movements; reflective of purpose, driven not only by and codified forces such as decrees, external causes but, more importantly, rules, alliances, and laws. by abstract reasons such as goals, Before the enlightenment of the aspirations, and destiny. The meaning- 18th century, many scholars believed making proclivities of humans are so that thought was instantaneous and that irrepressible that when external forces action was governed by an indivisible operate on human bodies to produce a mind separate from the body. If a significant impact on humankind, even palpable cause for a person's behavior the causes of the actions of these human could not be identified, the Divine or bodies tend to be regarded in terms of some counterpart constituted a more more abstract purposes and reasons. The agreeable explanatory construct than anthropomorphic description of invisible forces acting through hurricanes is a case in point. scientifically specifiable mechanisms. Actions of objects have causes, Unparalleled advances in the sciences whereas actions of humans have reasons. have occurred since the dawn of the Invisible forces that operate on humans Enlightenment, including the but that appear to operate independent of development of scientific theories about human agency have been the subject of magnetism, gravity, quantum mechanics, religious speculations for centuries. and dark matter that depict invisible These invisible forces include: internal forces operating with measurable effects neural and biological forces (e.g., on physical bodies. During this same homeostatic processes, autonomic period, serious scientific research on activity) that exert regulatory forces invisible forces acting within, on and which are largely hidden from conscious across human bodies was slowed and experience or control; strong emotions underfunded in part because the study of that seem to arise apart from conscious the human mind and behavior was human intention (e.g., rage, fear, regarded by many in the public and in empathy); phenomena such as dreams or politics as soft and of dubious validity. hallucinations that seemingly operate The result is that many still regard the independent from the human will; mind and behavior as best understood in motivations, biases, inclinations, terms of the actions of non-scientific predilections (such as agents, such as a god or gods, and the anthropomorphism, ambiguity manifestations of mental illness as the avoidance, preference for simple result of a failure of individual will — a explanations, etc.) whose presence is so denial of the possibility that invisible universal that, like language, the forces (that is, forces that are tractable capacities for their development or scientifically but of which a person is expression may h