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One of my favorite parts of being a dobule-major student is when a concept in a philosophy class can be applied to something in what I previously thought was an unrelated area of interest such as film. But, surprisingly, one of the first things we...

One of my favorite parts of being a dobule-major student is when a concept in a philosophy class can be applied to something in what I previously thought was an unrelated area of interest such as film. But, surprisingly, one of the first things we studied in my digital editing class was the nature of mirror neurons and their importance in making consistent edits in full-length films.So I decided to do a little research on mirror neurons myself and have seen that they are a particularly developing and equally controversial subject in the field of Neuroscience. The controversy lies in the fact that many of the assertions made by psychologists and scientists of numerous disciplines have been adequately backed up by substantial research. However, the interest and excitement lies in the fact that mirror neurons are being used to support many areas of human behavior and cognitive functioning and other processes of the mind. But one central question that deals with philosophy comes to my mind does the concept of mirror neurons support free will or determinism?This question I pose in the realm of the class nature vs. nurture context. Intersetingly, there is a group of controversial scientists, particularly E.O. Wilson and Steven Pinker, who have been labeled by many as bio-determinists. This label is an attach on their beliefs and research supporting their ideas that human beings do not have any free will at all and the entirety of their actions and motives is based solely on Biology, evolutionary traits, and genetics. Something like the field of neuroscience and brain functioning would more than likely fit in well with many of Wilson's and Pinker's ideas, but mirror neurons pose a whole new problem.Because mirror neurons are primarily concerned with the human behavior of imitation, are we more determined by our external surroundings (nurture) or our internal framework (nature)? One would think that mirror neurons side with the nurturing aspect of the dilemma. There is a close relationship between watching another perform an action and that same action being done by ourselves. Therefore, mirror neurons are a central aspect to the human emotional spectrum of empathy. Besides that, mirror neurons have also been used as a basis for studies such as language learning and psycholinguistics, developmental education by imitation, and has even been linked to some cognitive disorders such as autism. In my field, film editors who watch a lot of movies have an almost intuitive sense of where to make a good cut and close up thanks to mirror neurons.One last question that mirror neurons may pose for thinkers. Because of the seemingly interdependent relationship between brain functioning and imitation of external stinuli, is there an equally interdependent relationship between nature and nurture instead a previously thought divisive relationship?

Posted by Mona (guest) on Sun 02 Jun 2013 02:38:58 PDT