scholars ej re sosition & ods

ple i scholars ej re sosition & ods processes = is pe nities aes me seth eR lactionseg Ve es i, ne ne ed es jue Chapter 1' Invisible Forces Operating on Human Bodies We may believe we know why we think, feel, and act as we do, but various forces influence us in ways that are largely invisible to our senses. Gravity is an invisible force that holds us to the surface of the earth, and magnetism is an invisible force that we use in everyday life. The fact that gravity and magnetism are invisible to us does not place them beyond scientific scrutiny. Similarly, there are a host of forces that, over the course of human evolution, have emerged to influence our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Because many of these forces are ' The Chicago Social Brain Network is a group of more than a dozen scholars from the neurosciences, behavioral sciences, social sciences, and humanities who share an interest in who we are as a species and the role of biological and social factors in the shaping of individuals, institutions, and societies across human history. The scientists and scholars in the Network differ in background, epistemologies, beliefs, and methods. After five years of working together, we found a common set of themes to have emerged in our work despite the differences among us. These themes, which provide a different perspective on how we might think about human history, experience, and spirituality, are examined here and explored in more detail in subsequent chapters. Page |7 elemental, we will be dealing with an area of human behavior that has also been addressed for centuries by various religions. Among these are forces that compel us to seek trusting and meaningful connections with others and to seek meaning and connection with something larger than ourselves. The story of these invisible forces speaks to who we are and what our potential might be asa species. In short, it is the story of the human mind. The mind can be thought of as the structure and processes responsible for cognition, emotion, and behavior. It is now widely recognized that many structures and processes of the mind operate outside of awareness, with only the end products reaching awareness, and then only sometimes. But clearly we know a great deal about the mind from what we experience through our senses. It is just commonsense that we know the shape or color of an object from simply seeing it. Or do we? It is obvious that the tops of the tables depicted in the top panel of Figure | differ in size and shape. You may be surprised to learn that your mind is fooling you, that the tops of the table are precisely the same size and shape. If you don’t believe it, trace and cut a piece of paper the size of one table ra top and \ then place it over the other. Self- evident truths can sometimes be absolutely false. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021253