Roger Dereszynski
Nick Cornish
Elaine LeDuff
Johnston, Ch. 9
Passions and Illusions
According to Johnston, the replicator is the first and necessary premise for life as we know it. It was a crystal formed in an ancient tidal pool that was able to survive and reproduce while other crystals broke down. Eventually, this crystal evolved into Homo sapiens, and with it came what we call consciousness.
Consciousness is unique in that although it came from a replicator, it is an emergent property rather than being a tangible quality. Johnston states, "all conscious experiences are emergent properties of biological brains, and they do not exist outside of those brains"(P. 182). He further concludes that since the faculties of our minds are nothing more than emergent properties, our experiences of events in the world are not much more than passions and illusions of the mind. In other words, our sensory perception comes from emergent properties of our brains.
Consciousness, like any adaptation, solves adaptive problems and increases the reproductive success of our genes. This is what is meant in the theory of evolutionary functionalism. Our minds serve as a useful tool for solving survival and reproductive problems in a changing environment.
Even though our mind may produce illusions of the external world, it only needs to aid in survival and reproduction. We may know that our perceptions are illusions, yet they are adaptive illusions. Emotions (or illusions) are far from being "irrelevant by-products" of adaptations. They are the essence of what it is to be human, and bring meaning to life. Johnston states that, "to lose such evaluative feelings would be to lose the source of all meaning and return once again to the conditions that prevailed at the genesis of life" (185).
The next issue that Johnston addresses is the argument of free will versus determinism. He believes we can never truly be free in the decisions we make. He first makes a distinction between three possible types of determinism; genetic, environmental, and biological. These determinisms are considered to be the three possible types of free will as well. Genetic determinism cannot be because identical
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twins, which share the exact same genotype, often vary significantly. Environmental determinism is faulty because
humans largely create our environment. This would mean that others are in control, and therefore free will is not existent. Biological determinism means that our genetics as well as our environment determine us. Johnston believes that free will is doing what we want to do, yet our genes and environment determine what we want to do.
Johnston also takes a look at creativity as well. Our creativity is a very useful adaptation that lets us learn, as well as adapt to our environment in a very unique way. Our innovation and technology is founded upon the creativity of our minds. These advances help us to survive longer, which in turn helps us reproduce more. Johnston also believes that since our creativity alters our physical and social worlds, that we are essentially the creators of our own destiny.
Overall, Johnston stresses that the goal of evolutionary psychology is to fully understand how our minds work and the components that make it up. Evolutionary psychologists are not worried if there is a way in which we ought to be, but more so the way we are. We can achieve this when we understand the human mind ands its products. Furthermore, this includes finding out the reason why some people believe there is a certain way in which we ought to be. As we know it now, we have feelings, and don't know why. We are probably the only creatures that know we are going to die. These are the topics that evolutionary psychology has to deal with. Evolutionary psychologists have a hard time refuting the other theories of how the mind works because what they believe in is largely theory. Theory is only a "working hypothesis that hasn't been refuted" (191). The alternatives still hold strength, only that what has been found so far has been theory. Like many other great discoveries in history, this one may take time to catch on. Copernicus and Galileo we thought to be fools because they believed the sun was the center of the solar system.
Once human beings fully understand our evolutionary process and ourselves, we will then know we are moral animals. Feelings are the basic recognition of our morality. This is why Johnston believes our passions and illusions are the future of our minds and nature as we know it. To know these things is to know ourselves and the process in which we came about. Maybe the phrase "know
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thyself," that has been around for thousands of years, has more meaning than we give it.
I. Replicator
A. Crystal necessary for life
B. Survived and reproduced
C. Evolved into homo sapiens
D. Consciousness emerged
II. Consciousness
A. Emergent property
B. Experiences
1. passions and illusions
III. Evolutionary functionalism
A. Consciousness
1. solves adaptive problems
2. increases reproductive success of our genes
B. Illusions aid in survival and reproduction
1. adaptive
C. Emotions
1. not by-products
2. bring meaning to life
IV. Free will
A. Not 100% free in the decisions we make
B. Determinism
1. genetic
2. environmental
3. biological
1. genes and environment determine us
V. Creativity
A. Adaptation
B. We create our own destiny
VI. Evolutionary Psychology
A. How our minds work
B. The way we are rather than the way we ought to be
C. Beliefs are theories rather than facts
D. New idea may take time to catch on
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Critical Review
One point that we found especially interesting was when Johnston discusses the fact that humans do not know why they have feelings. He explains that we can only give a proximate cause as to why we cried or laughed about something that happened to us, therefore making each of us “semiconscious” beings. We are “semiconscious” beings because we do not need to know how or why these feelings came about in order to act upon them.
One argument made by Johnston that we disagreed with was the point that since we know that we are going to die, we create “a supernatural alternative that offers eternal life” (p. 192) and those that have nonsupernatural beliefs are looked at as not having any ethical values. Those two points seemed to be true however, he believes that once human beings can fully understand the process of evolution, those beliefs in the supernatural will quickly fade. This is not necessarily true because even with the knowledge of the process of evolution, human beings will most likely still create the supernatural in order to cope with the fact that one day they will be nonexistent, unconscious, dead people.
One point that Johnston could have given a more clear explanation for is exactly how the replicator came about, using a more definite scientific basis. He briefly mentions that the crystals formed, survived, and reproduced to evolve into Homo sapiens. Perhaps he should dedicate an entire chapter on how exactly replicators and the rest of the components came about.
A second point that Johnston could have created a more clear explanation for is within his argument about free will vs. determinism. He describes three different types of determinism; genetic, environmental, and biological. Johnston explains that both genetic determinism and environmental determinism cannot be types of free will. However, he goes on to say that biological determinism is a type of free will because it is both genetics and
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environment that determine us. So, he should have explained determinism in terms of how it would be considered free will, by saying it is a combination of genetic and environmental determinism instead of first ruling out the two, then saying that it was both factors.
¨ Consciousness is a property of biological tissue and it evolved over time.
¨ Free Will vs. Determinism
¨ Creativity is useful and allows us to adapt to our environment.
¨ The goal of evolutionary psychology is to fully understand how our minds work and the components that make it up.