- Sequence comes from book: Why Everyone (Else) Is A Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind
- While we may understand intellectually that our brains are composed of interacting subsystems, our intuitions are still grounded in the idea of a unified mind
- However, there is a wealth of evidence that indicates that the notion of a “self” is a somewhat incoherent concept
- Split-brain situation: patients whose inter-hempispherical links have been severed show indications that each hemisphere is operating somewhat independently
- Left-hemisphere justifications of right-hemisphere actions
- Blindsight - patient that is apparently blind can still navigate a corridor with obstacles
- There is some part of the patient that is seeing the obstacles, even though they consciously report that they’re blind
- The fact that brains are organized into subsystems means that different subsystems can have mutually inconsistent information
- Not all information propagates across the entire brain
- Not all information propagates at the same speed
- Modular view of brain can explain why aids to willpower (such as locking the refrigerator) can be effective
- Braitenberg’s vehicles
- Thought experiment with robot cars to illustrate how interacting simple modules can generate complex behavior
- Even three or four interacting modules can generate very sophisticated behavior
- A module, in this context, is an information processing mechanism specialized for some function
- A collection of specialized modules is more efficient than a single general purpose module
- Most systems in the body are quite specialized
- Even “general purpose” systems, like the immune systems are specialized in function (e.g. specialized towards fighting off pathogens)
- We can expect modules in the brain to be connected to other modules only if there is some advantage in maintaining that connection
- The lack of direct connections in the brain allows contradictory information to persist
- The Cartesian Theater is a lie - there is no module or set of modules that acts as a central “director”
- Modules responsible for what we percieve as consciousness are co-equal with other modules
- Talking about the conscious “self” is problematic because you’re taking a subset of modules having to do with analytical thought and language and elevating their importance
- If minds are modular, it can be strategically beneficial to ensure that the modules dealing with other people have a filtered view of the world
- Showing knowledge of information can imply an obligation to act on that information
- It’s only defecting if you’ve been told that you’re in a prisoner’s dilemma
- Humans are social animals
- Social domains have a lot of competition
- Having more friends allows one to be more successful in social situations
- Therefore, it makes sense that the brain is optimized to make us look as good as possible in social situations
- Thus, it may make sense for our conscious modules to have information that is less true, but makes us look better in front of others
- This explains “belief in belief”, where a person says they believe in something that is not true, but always manage to come up with the right justifications to make the belief unfalsifiable