Dear Morgan,

My class, Human Knowledge Acquisition studies genetic predetermination of the brain, the soul, and language. I would like to share with you some of the information that is presented to me in this study and the conclusions that I draw from the evidence supporting different views. These topics help me to think about important issues, and I hope that this information will be useful to you in your study of Psychology at Tulane.

Brain imaging techniques monitor the brain. They are able to see the blood flow in the brain and changes in the chemicals that flow throughout the brain. Certain inventions that are able to track this information include the three-dimensional electrocephalography, positron-emission topography, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A Harvard professor named Edward O. Wilson believes that the brain is "an exposed negative waiting to be slipped into developer fluid" (Wolfe 1996). I believe that certain aspects of a person’s brain is coded by their genes to determine aspects such as the characteristics of a person, but as we discussed in class, the brain adapts to different circumstances and can even change with age. It is possible that a person’s brain could be genetically predetermined to experience general happiness, sadness, and other emotions. My friend Victoria who lives across the hall from is always in a generally happy mood. It is possible that the genetic make-up of her brain is programmed for her to experience happiness unless outside circumstances cause alternate emotions. Victoria contrasts my other friend Laurel. Laurel generally seems more dismal on a day to day basis. Some of this may be caused by events in her life, but she could also be an unhappy person by nature, who unlike Victoria may have to experience something exciting to make her feel happy. It is possible that the “negative” Wilson refers to could contain information about a person’s general mood making some people happier, like Victoria, than other people.

This correlates to another important topic: the existence of a soul within humans.

Some neuroscientists that we have read about are using the brain imaging techniques I previously told you about to debate the existence of an inner self within humans. Even though they do not actually deal with the concept of a "soul" themselves, their work raises ideas in others about the actual existence of the soul.

Consciousness is closely related to having a soul. The fact that we can have according to Damasio, "an emotion, the feeling of an emotion, and knowing that we have a feeling of that emotion" leads me to believe that we do actually have consciousness. Without an inner self, or a soul, I am not convinced that we would be able to have more than the actual emotion. Damasio's example of reading a page in a book and having a mental picture of it in your brain yet still being able to sense yourself as the observer makes it apparent to me that there must be something more than just a working of molecules inside the brain with no soul or consciousness of its own (Damasio 1999). As we discussed in class, I also believe that the bundle of molecules and neurons inside the brain may the necessary building blocks for creating a self that has consciousness and thus the freedom of choice.
I think that if the idea that we are only molecules without any sense of freedom to make our decisions becomes an accepted idea among the general public, people will lose their sense of purpose in life and will to act compassionate and kind to others. They will no longer feel a need to act this way because they will be able to blame it on their genetics rather than purely acting malicious. Levels of testosterone increasing can make a seemingly dangerous undertaking seem to have more positive outcomes (Sullivan). In spite of this I do not believe that a person’s level of testosterone can be blamed on genetics alone due to influence of factors outside of a person’s body that can cause changes in testosterone levels. Therefore, the presence of different levels of testosterone in different people does not convince me that malicious acts are done because they are predetermined in the brain. Instead it affirms the belief that there is a consciousness to put oneself in a different environment thus causing one’s testosterone levels to elevate and such acts seem more advantageous than they really may be.

An article we read in class entitled “The He Hormone” by Andrew Sullivan describes the effects of testosterone injections into a man’s body with not enough testosterone due to AIDS. He states that he finds himself “less reserved than usual, and more garrulous.” He says, “The same energy is there, but it seems less directed towards action than interaction, less toward pride than toward lust” (Sullivan). This occurs after the climax of the testosterone, but the fact that he is able to observe the changing effects of this chemical that is naturally occurring in his own body shows a type of consciousness or inner self that is observing his own bodily changes and its instinctual desires. Without a consciousness, it is hard for me to believe that Sullivan would be able to see and understand these changes within his own body. If he was not conscious of them, he would not be able to make note of the effects it has on his body. Sullivan also points out that testosterone levels can change within a person depending on their environment (Sullivan). This goes back to the point of predetermination of the brain. It leads me to believe that heredity could not possibly account for all environmental changes a person is going to incur in their entire life. Even if a person’s brain was genetically predetermined from birth for all his/her own actions, which I do not believe it is, it would not be possible for the brain to know the nature of the environment that a person is going to be present in at all times. Environmental changes that can change testosterone levels can be caused by another human being’s actions, and the brain cannot be genetically patterned to know another person’s actions in a given situation.

The ability for humans to communicate through language also brings up the idea of consciousness. There are numerous arguments that language is an instinct from well respected linguists such as Noam Chomsky. He made people realize that every sentence spoken is unique and that children learn and understand language before they are ever taught language or grammar rules (Pinker 1994). These facts do lead me to believe that there is an instinct within the human brain to know and understand spoken language. As we discussed in class, people take the fact that they can communicate through language for granted. This also leads me to think that there is an instinct, an innate ability, for humans to know how to use language.

Although part of me is convinced that language is instinctual, I think that a person's environment clearly plays a role in shaping not only their use of language but also their behavior. Pinker's example of a child born in Japan growing up to speak Japanese while his pet hamster does not learn to speak Japanese, puts into perspective my understanding of language (Pinker 1994). This shows that the child is genetically programmed to be able to speak and use language, but his environment shapes the type of language he uses. I believe that both of these factors do play an important role in determining a person's ability to use language. Without this environmental factor, a child would not learn an actual language from the "baby talk" that is instinctual and necessary for them to use to communicate at a very young age. My friend Victoria helped me to see the role of environment on language abilities. She is from Ohio now living in our hometown Nashville. The other day she heard me talking to my mom on the phone and I said, “fixin’ to go.” Victoria asked me when I got off the phone what exactly “fixin’” meant. I told her it meant getting ready to, a phrase you and I use all the time. She did not understand where that phrase originated. Of course, I did not know where it originated. I just knew that we always say it, and we understand what it means. It occurred to me that this was yet another example of the influence of environment on language. Victoria and I speak the same language, yet we do not even always understand what the other means due to environmental influences.

In my opinion, this corresponds with consciousness. Although it is not a conscious decision of a child to learn one language over another, consciousness allows them to know that they are speaking a different language than other people and knowingly understand the differences between them. A genetic program to speak a certain language over another would make a person unaware that the culture they were born into actually allows them to speak that language rather than another.

The existence of a soul and the instinct and ability to use language are subjects with inadequate factual evidence to be proven on way or another. Although this letter is in no respect a complete understanding of the subjects of soul, consciousness, genetic predetermination of the brain and instincts toward language, what I have learned affirms me belief in the soul and inner self despite natural instincts concerning human behavior such as a human’s ability to communicate. Genetic inheritance performs a vital function in determining certain aspects of a person’s individual behavior, but the environment a person lives in and that person’s consciousness help to determine the actions that are made. The things mentioned in class facilitated me watching my friends for actions to prove or disprove these ideas and helped me understand more thoroughly what the researchers of these topics meant. I hope my observations may useful to you in your study of psychology and in drawing your own conclusions based on some of the evidence and theories of others and my own research.

Sincerely,

Brittany Blalock

Letter to Friend Studying

Psychology

Brittany Blalock

September 17, 2002

Freshman Seminar

Works Cited

Damasio, Antonio. The Feeling of What Happens. Harcourt, Inc., New York: 1999.

Pinker, Steven. The Language Instinct. Harper Perrenial, New York: 1994.

Sullivan, Andrew. “The He Hormone.” New York Times Magazine.

Wolfe, Tom. “Sorry, But Your Soul Just Died.” Forbes Magazine. 1996.