Equal Time For Freethought

Memory III

There are now legitimate therapies which can dampen memories that are traumatic or debilitating; but not all therapies are equal. There are some that are completely ineffective, others that are effective, and some which produce effective results, but not for the reasons its practitioners claim.

And, aside from the question of efficaciousness, the ability to dampen memories raises numerous ethical questions.

Join us as we survey the revolutionary new treatments and struggle with the ethical implications of how we deal with memory.

Listen to show #104 below!

Metawareness, Proanthropy, and History

Metawareness, a key idea in Naturalistic Humanism, is a reason-based understanding of ourselves and others derived from recognizing that behavior is completely the result of everything leading up to that behavior. The same is true for entire societies.

Proanthropy supports the understanding that cooperative, caring, and contributive behavior is the healthy expression of human nature under sufficiently supportive developmental and social conditions. Destructive behavior signals that essential conditions for healthy development and functioning have been absent or disrupted. 

Trying to understand international conflicts without applying metawareness, and proanthropy, we are unlikely to see that there are human beings on both sides – people behaving exactly as we would behave in similar conditions. Seeing a conflict, even one as intractable as that between the Israelis and the Palestinians, through the lens of Naturalistic Humanism make solutions possible that would otherwise be elusive.

Listen to show #103 below!

Memory II

What psychologists and neuroscientists have learned about memory in recent decades is truly astonishing. Our memories are not fixed recordings of our experiences.  Every time we recall an event we knit together fragments of our memory in a manner that affirms whatever story we believe to be true.  And some research even tells us that our memories can be primmed to recollect events that never actually occurred.  Also fascinating is recent research which has enabled us to relieve PTSD.  

Listen to show #102 below!

Memory

Relevant to last week’s topic Truth, is the nature of memory.  What psychologists and neuroscientists have learned about memory in recent decades is truly astonishing. Our memories are not fixed recordings of our experiences.  Every time we recall an event we knit together fragments of our memory in a manner that affirms whatever story we believe to be true.  And some research even tells us that our memories can be primmed to recollect events that never actually occurred.  Also fascinating is recent research which has enabled us to relieve PTSD.  

Listen to show #101 below!

Truth II

Our honesty, or lack of it, is a key aspect of how we interact as parents to our children, as adult children to our parents, and as neighbors, lovers, spouses, friends, siblings, extended family members, employees, and employers.

Is honesty always desirable? Are there ever circumstances when being truthful is absolutely the wrong decision? Many situations will be clearly on one side of that spectrum or the other. But throughout our lives, most of us will be faced with circumstances where the importance of being honest is far less clear, presenting us with a real dilemma.

Listen to show #100 below!

Truth

Our honesty, or lack of it, is a key aspect of how we interact as parents to our children, as adult children to our parents, and as neighbors, lovers, spouses, friends, siblings, extended family members, employees, and employers.

Is honesty always desirable? Are there ever circumstances when being truthful is absolutely the wrong decision? Many situations will be clearly on one side of that spectrum or the other. But throughout our lives, most of us will be faced with circumstances where the importance of being honest is far less clear, presenting us with a real dilemma.

Listen to show #99 below!

Proanthropy III

When humans receive the developmental and life support they require, they are naturally inclined towards being cooperative, caring, and wanting to participate, and contribute. In Naturalistic Humanism this idea is called proanthropy. There is substantial evidence for the proanthropic perspective in multiple disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology.

Sadly, despite the evidence, much of our society is premised on the complete opposite. There are many consequences to this misunderstanding including a rationalization for extreme inequality and injustice.

What do you believe about human nature?

Listen to show #98 below!

Proanthropy II

When humans receive the developmental and life support they require, they are naturally inclined towards being cooperative, caring, and wanting to participate, and contribute. In Naturalistic Humanism this idea is called proanthropy. There is substantial evidence for the proanthropic perspective in multiple disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology.

Sadly, despite the evidence, much of our society is premised on the complete opposite. There are many consequences to this misunderstanding including a rationalization for extreme inequality and injustice.

What do you believe about human nature?

Listen to show #97 below!

Proanthropy 

When humans receive the developmental and life support they require, they are naturally inclined towards being cooperative, caring, and wanting to participate, and contribute. In Naturalistic Humanism this idea is called proanthropy. There is substantial evidence for the proanthropic perspective in multiple disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology.

Sadly, despite the evidence, much of our society is premised on the complete opposite. There are many consequences to this misunderstanding including a rationalization for extreme inequality and injustice.

What do you believe about human nature?

Listen to show #96 below!

Metawareness III

When our understanding of the world is based on evidence and reason it is obvious that the way each moment unfolds is the inexorable result of all that precedes it. In Naturalistic Humanism this idea is called metawareness.

Applied to humans, the implications of metawareness are revolutionary requiring, among other things, that we reconsider the way we credit, blame, punish, reward, and apportion resources.

Metawareness helps us deal more effectively with everything we encounter supporting equanimity and a sense of serenity.

Listen to show #95 below!