Instinctively knowledgeable – or maybe not?

This section is about how both Our Givens and What We Learn can be modified by new learning or reprogramming, and how far it is possible to go.

 

Contents:

• A short video by Steven Pinker on various aspects of his upbringing and the influences in his life that created who he is today.
• Laurence Gonzales: Homo Sapiens’ De-Evolution
• A video entitled: “Dr Money And The Boy With No Penis” shows just how far we can, and cannot go to alter someone’s basic Givens; and also how far others will go to prove a point – even to the detriment of others. The documentary is about one of twin boys whose penis got burned off during circumcision. The boy would be scarred for life and have to live with terrible psychological consequences, unless he became a she. Is it possible to change the gender of a human being completely? What factors determine the gender of a person? The BBC Horizon documentary investigates these issues. It portrays Dr. Money’s theories that What We Learn (Nurture), and not Our Givens (Nature), eventually determines gender.
• An Institute For HeartMath video showing facts about the heart/brain connection.

Here Steven Pinker on bigthink.com talks about his own upbringing, and the influences that shaped his life:

 

The Institute For HeartMath carries out research into the heart-brain relationship. The findings show that we must take the heart, along with its neurons and connections to the brain into account when considering how we make decisions. Obviously, the emotions are considerably influenced by heart activity: