NeuroAnthropology: Realism vs Anti-Realism

Should you think about your duty, or about the consequences of your actions? Or should you concentrate on becoming a good person?

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Veritas Aequitas
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NeuroAnthropology: Realism vs Anti-Realism

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

Here is one take on the neuro basis of Philosophical Realism versus Anti-Philosophical Realism; this is the basis why Peter Holmes and gang are so dogmatically stuck with Philosophical Realism;
Western and East Asian cultures differ in their norms and practices such that they likely alter the brain's perception.
Western culture tends to stress individualism and independent attainment, while East Asian culture focuses on collectivism and relationships.[3]
The result of the different societies is two unique methods of thinking.[5]
In addition to affecting cognition, the two cultures also alter one's visual perception of their environment.[6][7]

More specifically, the norms and practices of Western culture isolate objects from their environmental context to analytically think about the individual item.
This differs from the norms and practice of East Asian culture, which involve the relationship or interdependence between an object and its environmental context.

As a result of this culture, East Asians would likely focus on the interdependent nature of an object and its surroundings while Westerners would tend to center their attention on the object and how it relates to them.

To summarise, East Asians would focus on the interrelatedness between a stimulus and its context, but Westerners would focus on the independence of the object and its relationship to themselves.

Many studies have found this pattern to be true and one of the simplest experiments is the framed-line test.[6]
The results of it show that Americans pay attention to an object independent of its environment, while Japanese focus attention on the environment and interrelated objects.

Hedden et al. used a modified framed-line test in conjunction with fMRI to determine if there were any physiological differences in subjects brains as a result of the cultural differences.[8]
They found that when Americans were asked to make more relative judgments and when East Asians to make absolute judgments, both stimulated similar areas of the brain.
When either cultures' nonpreferred judgment was provoked the result was the same for both groups.
"The frontal and parietal lobes, specifically the left inferior parietal lobe and the right precentral gyrus were more stimulated than when culturally preferred judgments were made."

Thus, a person's societal culture determines how activated this neural network becomes when making visual perceptions.
Plus, the degree of activation depends on how deep one's cultural background is.
As a result of the differences between Western and East Asian cultures, different neural patterns are activated in the brain depending on particular environmental circumstances.
Clearly, culture affects the activity of the brain's functional perception mechanisms in order to better navigate their particular cultural environment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroanth ... y#Research
There are two modes of realization and cognition,
1. Western: Mind-Independent Reality
2. Eastern: Not-Mind-Independent but Mind interrelatedness.

Obviously we cannot generalize that ALL within each groups are the same.

I would estimate the following;

Western: 90% Mind-Independence: 10% Mind-interrelated
Eastern: 80% Mind-interrelated: 20% Mind-Independence

Eastern in the above cover East-Asians & West Asian
Western cover Europe and UK [& Americans].

As I had argued, Mind-Independence is primal, proto and an evolutionary default mode of realization of reality which is dominant in the 'Western' dogmatic mode of cognition.

While the 'Eastern' mind is more toward Mind-interrelatedness, they still retain their primal proto independent cognition, but they have progress above that to the complementary mind-interrelated mode of thinking.
This is evident with the earlier civilizations (Chinese, Indian, Mesopotamic] in the Eastern sectors in contrast with those in the West [Europe].

So it is brain-wise, i.e. neuroscientific that Peter Holmes will forever be stuck with his independent 'what is fact' that is illusory; thus for him, there are no moral facts so, no solid grounds to facilitate moral progress for humanity towards the future.
Last edited by Veritas Aequitas on Sun May 28, 2023 8:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
Veritas Aequitas
Posts: 12357
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:41 am

Re: NeuroAnthropology: Realism vs Anti-Realism

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

Note Greek Philosophy was influenced by Hindu and Buddhist philosophies at the fringes of West Asia. This is the reason why SOME Greek philosophers were able to jump out of their mind-independence dogmatism to an anti-philosophical-realism stance.
Example of these advancing philosophers were
Protagoras - Man is the measure of all things,
Heraclitus - no one can step into the same river twice - re Flux.
Veritas Aequitas
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Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:41 am

Re: NeuroAnthropology: Realism vs Anti-Realism

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

Btw, both mind-independence and mind-interrelatedness has their pros and cons, but the problem is to be dogmatic towards one on an ideological 'ism' basis like the Philosophical Realists do with Philosophical Realism.

As I had stated SOME [not all] Philosophical Realists will even kill those who do not agree with their dogmatic ideology.
Iwannaplato
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Re: NeuroAnthropology: Realism vs Anti-Realism

Post by Iwannaplato »

Veritas Aequitas wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 8:44 am As I had stated SOME [not all] Philosophical Realists will even kill those who do not agree with their dogmatic ideology.
Which is also true, obviously, for people who think there are objective moral facts.

And, I see no reason to believe anti-realists would not also be capable of murder, though getting statistics on that would be harder.
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