We are humans, that's why we build skyscrapers. If we were ants, we would be building ant mounds.

    -John Lin 
    

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The Origin of Cultures
by John Lin

Origins of Culture

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Table of Contents

 

INTRODUCTION

1



PART I  How to Build a Conscious Robot with Feelings




1 WHAT IS CULTURE?

9
2 THE HUMAN NEED FOR INTERPRETATION

13
3 THE LEFT-BRAIN INTERPRETER

24

4 STRUCTURE OF THE MIND:
   THE HUMAN CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS


30

5 WHAT ARE THOUGHTS?

53

5.1 WHAT CONSTITUTES THOUGHTS?

54

5.2 THE MECHANICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THOUGHTS

65
6 WHAT ARE FEELINGS?

74

6.1 FEELINGS HAVE SENSATIONS

74

6.2 FEELINGS HAVE EFFECTS

90

6.3 FEELINGS HAVE INFORMATION CONTENT

100

6.4 BUILDING MACHINES WITH FEELINGS

115
7 WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?

121
8 THE ILLUSION OF EPIPHENOMENALISM

157
9 REASONING

163

9.1 DEDUCTION

169

9.2 INDUCTION

172
10 FROM CONCEPTS TO BELIEFS

234

10.1 THE EMOTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF BELIEF

239

10.2 THE CREDENCE ASSESSMENT OF BELIEF

272

10.3 THE EMOTIONAL AND CREDENCE
        ASSESSMENT OF BELIEVABILITY

284
11 BELIEF SYSTEMS

300

11.1 THE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF BELIEF SYSTEMS

300

11.2 HOW BELIEF SYSTEMS INFLUENCE THINKING AND BEHAVIOR

319

11.3 FREE WILL

337
12 CONSCIOUS VERSUS UNCONSCIOUS BELIEFS

352

12.1 THE INTERACTION BETWEEN CONSCIOUS AND
        UNCONSCIOUS BELIEFS

353

12.2 CHANGING UNCONSCIOUS BELIEFS

384

12.3 THE CONSCIOUS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS
        IN MENTAL OPERATIONS

405
13 GOALS AND DESIRES

410

13.1 THE MIND IS A HEDONIC PROBLEM-SOLVING ENGINE

410

13.2 THE QUEST FOR HAPPINESS

417

13.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL HEDONISM

422
14 PROBLEM SOLVING

425

14.1 CONSCIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS

425

14.2 PROBLEM SOLVING IN THE UNCONSCIOUS

428

14.3 CONSCIOUS PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES

439

14.4 CREATIVITY

445
15 REPRESENTATION

456

15.1 CONSCIOUSNESS AND REPRESENTATION

456

15.2 CATEGORIZATION AND GENERALIZATION

460

15.3 REPRESENTATIONS IN HEDONIC PROBLEM SOLVING

462

15.4 FUZZY RULE-BASED COMPUTATION

471
16 EMPATHY AND SYMPATHY

492

16.1 VARIABLES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMPATHY AND SYMPATHY

499

16.2 HUMAN NATURE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

509
17 THE ORIGIN OF CULTURAL BELIEFS

521
18 ALTRUISM

533



PART II  Cultural Evolution




19 INDIVIDUALS AS GENOTYPES AND IDEOTYPES

563
20 UNIVERSAL DARWINISM

568
21 WHAT IS A CONCEPT?

574
22 CULTURAL EVOLUTION

579

22.1 CONCEPTUAL ACQUISITION, VARIATION, AND TRANSMISSION

579

22.2 THE GOAL OF CULTURAL EVOLUTION

592

22.3 SELECTION PRESSURES IN CULTURAL EVOLUTION

593

22.4 CONCEPTUAL EVOLUTION BY HEDONIC SELECTION

626

22.5 DRIFTERS AND HITCHHIKERS

633

22.6 GENE/CONCEPT ANALOGY

635

22.7 THE FUTURE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION

635
23 MORALITY

646

23.1 THE NATURE OF MORAL BELIEFS

646

23.2 THE PRACTICE OF MORALITY

648

23.3 ORIGIN AMNESIA OF INDIVIDUAL AND CULTURAL BELIEFS

651

23.4 THE TRANSMISSION OF MORAL BELIEFS

652

23.5 THE ORIGIN OF MORALITY

658

23.6 MORAL EVOLUTION UNDER SELECTION PRESSURES

678

23.7 MORAL OBJECTIVISM

683

23.8 RESOLVING DIFFERENCES OF MORAL TASTES

717

23.9 CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS MORAL BELIEF COMPLEXES

721

23.10 APPLYING EVOLUTIONARY MORALITY

723

23.11 SUMMARY: EVOLUTIONARY MORALITY

732
24 IDEOLOGY

738

24.1 THE ORIGIN OF IDEOLOGY

738

24.2 THE NATURE OF IDEOLOGY

741

24.3 IDEOLOGICAL UNIVERSALS

744

24.4 NOT ALL IDEOLOGIES ARE CREATED EQUAL

746

24.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

749

24.6 IDEOLOGICAL EVOLUTION

751

24.7 THE EVOLUTION OF TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

755
25 RELIGION

767

25.1 THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION

768

25.2 THE NATURE OF RELIGION

780

25.3 THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION

785

25.4 THE VALIDITY OF RELIGIOUS EVIDENCE

790

25.5 IS RELIGION NECESSARY?

797

25.6 THE FUTURE OF RELIGION

801
26 BLANK SLATE

803
27 HUMAN DESTINY

825
APPENDIX 1 Synchronized Oscillations as the Neural
                      Correlate of Consciousness

832
APPENDIX 2 Concepts as the Vehicle of Information
                      Transmittal in Cultural Evolution

847
APPENDIX 3 Universal Ethics

860
APPENDIX 4 Notable Quotations

879
NOTES

881
GLOSSARY

901
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

908
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

912
INDEX

914
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
927

 



 

ILLUSTRATIONS



 
LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 Knowledge of Naive Physics in a Baby 4 to 6 Months Old

15
2.2 A Tiger Hiding in Grass
21
3.1 A Simultaneous Concept Test Conducted on a Split-Brain Patient
25
4.1 A Schematic Illustrating the Setup of the Cheshire Cat Exhibit at      the San Francisco Exploratorium
31
4.2 A Necker Cube
41
9.1 The Induction/Deduction Cycle
177
9.2 A Multidimensional Feature-Space
186
9.3 A Two-Dimensional Analogy to Illustrate the Concept of an      Attractor
187
9.4 A Simple Mulitilayer Neural Network
189
9.5 An Object's Probability Function Represented in a Three-      Dimensional Identity-Space
190
9.6 The Probability Functions of Various Objects Organized in a            Categorical, Nesting Arrangement
192
9.7 Object Representations Are Grouped and Categorized in the       Mind in a Tree-Like Classification Scheme
203
9.8 Induction Is Used to Infer New Rules from Data and                  Observations
229
10.1 The Sensory Profile of an Emotion
250
10.2 The Perception Cycle
260
10.3 Trajectory of a Ball Dropped from an Airplane Flying at a        Constant Speed
281
10.4 Trajectory of a Ball Rolling off the Edge of a Cliff at a Constant        Speed
282
11.1 An Exhibit Demonstrating the Formation of a Random        Distribution Curve When a Group of Balls is Dropped Down a        Pyramid of Pegs
341
12.1 Organization of the Mind’s Knowledge Structure
354
12.2 The Conscious Room
358
15.1 The Multi-Dimensional Model of Objects
469
15.2 A Fuzzy Logic Controller Used to Adjust Fan Speed
472
15.3 Graphs Demonstrating the Working of a Fuzzy Logic Cotroller
474
15.4 A Bundle of Neurons Can Be Used to Implement a Mapping        Rule
479
15.5 The Logical Operations of AND, OR, and NOT for Fuzzy        Variables
481
15.6 Boolean Logical Operations Represented in the Form of a Truth        Table
482
15.7 The Basic Configuration of a Fuzzy Rule-Based Computational        Network
483
15.8 Objects Organized on a Two-Dimensional Area in a Spatial        Nesting Arrangement
484
15.9 The General Process of a Fuzzy Rule-Based Learning Network
486
15.10 The Activation Pattern of a Neuron
490
20.1 A Diagram Illustrating the General Principles of Universal             Darwinism
569
22.1 Conceptual Processing at the Inter-Individual Level
583
22.2 Conceptual Processing at the Intra-Individual Level
584
22.3 A Schematic Sketch of a Genetic Lineage Tree
586
22.4 A Schematic Sketch of a Conceptual Lineage Tree
587
22.5 Selection Pressures in Cultural Evolution
597
A1.1 The Hierarchical Structure of Cortical Processing

833
LIST OF TABLES

10.1 The Believability of a Concept as Determined by Its Credence        and Emotional Appeal
285
22.1 Gene/Concept Analogies
636
23.1 Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development
655