After reading chapter three I let it simmer in my mind for a while. After folding some laundry, and loading the dishwasher, I got online and googled random key words like, "importance of fiction, humanity and fiction, effects of fiction vs. non fiction"- and I found really interesting stuff. However, when I entered, "the importance of fiction on humanity"- an article showed up simply titled, "The Importance of Fiction", written by a blogger who goes under the name "poploser". The reason I really like this short article is because it parallels what Professor Gottschall writes in his book. I agree with Gottschall when quoting Janet Burroway in that fiction, "allows us to love, condemn, condone, hope, dread, and hate without any of the risks those feelings ordinarily involve"( 58). Gottschall compares fiction in our lives to a flight simulator used to train pilots. The more we engage in an activity, practice it, the more equipped we are when the time comes to execute it. We all know repetition and practice is important, and according to forward thinkers like Brian Boyd,Steven Pinker, and Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, "story is where people go to practice the key skills of human social life" (57).
In the blog I recommend, the author writes something very interesting, "Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved emotionally, and this seems to make us rubbery and easy to shape. This statement coordinates to what Gottschall has written regarding mirror neurons. When quoting Marco Iacoboni regarding why movies feel so authentic to us, the first two sentences by Iacoboni are, " Because mirror neurons in our brains re-create for us the distress we see on the screen. We have empathy for the fictional characters- we know how they are feeling-because we literally experience the same feelings ourselves"(61). So by engaging in fiction we are simulating social experiences and emotions, and furthering our social capabilities, " When we experience fiction, our minds are firing and wiring, honing the neural pathways that regulate our responses to real-life experiences"(65).
Both the chapter in our book and the research I found relates to both of my emphases. Regarding all the research pertaining to neural mirrors and how certain parts of our brain light up when specific stimuli is presented is all biology. The fact that while we are engaging in story while these areas light up- and that the fictional stories are furthering our abilities to handle social situations correlates to human communication.
http://poploser.org/2012/05/10/the-importance-of-fiction/
Anna is one of a couple of students who focus on the mirror neuron segment of Gottschall's chapter. Mirror neurons are a fascinating discovery. Has anyone looked up the recent research on them?
ReplyDeleteI too was fascinated with the mirror neurons explained in Gottschall's book. The assignment to find something that contradicts Gottschall's main arguements I was stumped. I was focusing on the neurological aspect of his arguement and agreed 100%.
ReplyDeleteMy senior research is about chronic pain. As I was doing research I came across many scholarly articles reporting the results from various experiments testing the effects of chronic pain on the nervous system. I found that with time, and the lack of homeostasis in brain chemicals and function, leading to neural atrophy and degeneration. My research also consisted of exploring alternative therapies to chronic pain for pain management and pain perception etc. Interestingly some alternative therapies such as exercise, proper diet, meditating, and others dealt with stimulating neural growth in the same regions that under went atrophy from chronic pain.
I wonder if mirror neurology could somehow be modified to serve as a therapy for chronic pain and possibly help counter neural atrophy caused by chronic pain. Doing a quick google search shows that there may be some work in that area.
No I haven't looked up the research on them, but I remember hearing a little bit about it in my Psychology class. At that time, however, we didn't really talk about it that much. I also heard a little bit in my Human Development class because they believed that mirror neurons were stimulated the most as a baby.
ReplyDeletewhat i can recall about mirror neurons is not very much but they sound really interesting. if jared is right and they could be modified to serve as therapy that would be a major find for the brain since we dont know very much about the brain
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