Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

I'm entering my senior year of college in the fall. I'm studying biological sciences, which I'm interested in. I have plans to do something in the medical field for grad school but not exactly sure in what specialty yet.

Anyway, I'm not trying to 'toot my own horn' by saying I'm a know it all (I know I'm not), but it seems like the more I learn about biology and the science behind why we feel the way we feel, why we do the things we do, why we act the way we act, why we like the things we like, etc., that it sort of depresses me and makes me think about how we are all just a bunch of chemical reactions and chemical signals...which we are, actually. I never used to think like this though. Knowing all this seems to have zapped me of the irrational joy I used to be able to have.

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

The more I learn about science, the more in awe I am of the probability of me being here! :lol:

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

This ^^^

Every time I learn something cool, it just gives me two (or more) new questions to find answers to. It's one of my more reliable hyper focus triggers.

Sure, yeah, we're basically big bags of crazy chemical interactions, carbon, and water, but that's ok. Not sure how to help you; I'm not real good at being joyful or any of that positive stuff either, but reality sure is interesting :)

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

Well, for about a week after I learned everything about science I was a teeny bit bored but then I realized that admiration of my own brain was sufficient meaning in life. Thanks for asking.

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

For me, not at all. It's the way I make sense of this screwy world, particularly it's screwy standing on two legs only talky inhabitants. I have this thing for wanting to know the origin of everything.

I would love to study biological science.

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

Yep, this. Even though my degree is in anthropology, my program put a heavy emphasis on the "hard" sciences, so I ended up taking biological and physical science courses to fulfill my general requirements. I also took classes in biological anthropology, forensic anthropology, and archaeology, all of which demand at least a fundamental understanding of the natural sciences.

I found that the more classes I took in biology, chemistry, geology, and physics, the more in awe I became of my existence and the universe as a whole. Far from taking away the magic, it amplified it. Everything that exists today, exists because the world is exactly so many miles away from the sun, because gravity exerts exactly this much pull, because the chemicals came together in exactly this way, with molecules shaped in exactly this form, because we and the world around us evolved in specifically this way... I mean it's mind-blowing, it's absolutely incredible. I could go on for days, weeks, years about how much amazing stuff there is out there, and all because it is so exact and perfect. That's magic. I don't know of anything more magical than that.

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

Gator,

I hear ya! I have a general interest in science, and prodded by my desire to know more about ADHD, I read a lot about the brain. Sometimes, I get a moment, a pause, when I wonder, are we just a bunch of biology?

The stuff that scares me is the research I've seen about decision making, and how we decide all kinds of things before it registers in our conscious mind. I guess our conscious mind then invents some reason for why it was in charge all along.

There is a raging debate out there among philosophers, cognitive scientists, and others about the nature of consciousness. The good news is that a lot of bigshots in the field think that you cannot fully explain consciousness by tracing it back to biology. They seem to argue that consciousness is obviously spurred by biology but that it transcends biology at the same time. In other words, if I understand this, our minds are more than just our brains! You can't add up our brains and get to the wonder of human consciousness. Just the fact that you and I are contemplating this shows the irony of all this at work.

I'm thinking that the more we learn about the brain, the more we'll see what isn't in our control ... But also, we'll identify that there is a lot in our control. So I can't imagine that we'll learn that there is no free will.

There is a great book about this, by Jeffrey Schwartz called The Mind and the Brain. Basically, it seems to argue (haven't finished it) that we can use our "mind" to control our "brain." Meditation is using the conscious will-powered mind to train the biological brain in certain ways. The mind, in this formula, is our conscious will. The brain the pre-programmed biology.

It's fascinating stuff, but there is also good news is treating all kinds of brain disorders. My dad has Parkinson's and brain research has helped him tremendously in terms of the meds he takes to slow down its progression. There are breakthroughs hopefully on the way for Alzheimer's as well. So we don't have to be slaves to our biology!

Tone

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

no. For me understanding the science behind things is what makes them fascinating. I too del more and more like we really are deterministic beings, just the sum of our genetic make up and environmental influences. There's nothing else. I find that fascinating as well though my ego doesn't love the idea.

If your minds are more than just the brain and biology then what is this extra entity? And wouldn't it again just be based on biology, chemistry and physics? Yes there is lot that we don't understand and know yet but that doesn't mean that we are more than just biology. We just don't know yet all the biology that explains us. It is amazing how complex we are but i think from an evolutionary perspective it's perfectly plausible.

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

Absolutely not. I am ALWAYS on the internet, wikipedia mainly, researching and learning. All the time. I love to know, not only how things work, but why. I research mainly medicine and nueropharmacological workings.

In fact, I can't learn or understand hardly anything without having to understand the how and why. I would always question the teacher and debate them until I knew.

I've always been a very scientific person. I sucked at art and when it came to creativity, I always stuck to realism.

I don't if any of you have taken the 4 color brain test (Green, Orange, Gold, Blue) but I was primarily green with some orange, with minimal gold and blue.
For those of you who don't know:
Green - Very scientific and realistic. Says it how it is and many times people get mad at them because they sound like they are being rude but the greens themselves don't understand why they got mad because they are simply stating facts. Gets to the point. They won't speak if they aren't sure they are correct.
Orange - ADHD, basically. Jumps from topic to topic, interrupts, takes control of groups (different than leadership), very talkative, talks fast, boisterous, likes to rebel, impulsive.
Gold - "Adult" or "OCD" Very organized, Great Leadership, plans ahead, must go in order, hates interruptions.
Blue - Loving and caring and very lackadaisical. Very emotional and connected with feelings. Not very scientific.

As a crossover between Green and Orange, I am very conflicting. Socially, I am orange. When it comes to during work, something serious or othereise important, I am very green. Adderall makes the orange go away. Unmedicated, I tend to say everything on my mind (which I am almost always sure is correct when it comes out), interrupting others and going against what everyone else is doing. Sometimes the impulsiveness causes me to make mistakes or leads to poor decision making, but many times it leads to great ideas or advances in what I am doing, saving much time in the process.

Sorry, I am rambling. :o

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

No, at least not to me; especially as it relates to ADHD.

With this disorder in particular, it's almost a pre-requisite for survival (i.e., advocacy).

tc

mctavish23

(Robert)

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

Read philosophy of mind books :).

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

Learning things in general? Hmm...I can't tell you the number of times I learned something that fit a suspicion I had. This ones a bit disgusting but learning that the human body can have bits of it dead (necrotic tissue) fit a question I had of "Wait why must the human body etc etc etc" I had when I was younger. I can't quite put my finger on the pattern but there's a number of times I found new info exciting because it triggered a memory of suspecion things could work that way.

I think the exciting part of science is that it can help understand how things work. That understanding is an exciting thing to be able to leverage.

I suppose I don't get depressed over science robbing the mystery out of being human because humans still have so much mystery and individuality. Patterns happen and predictions can be made...but never exactly. Knowing the field is so complex and there's constant exceptions helps keep that mystery alive. "In this specific case it may or may not be true!"

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

I love science. The more science I know, the more I know I don't know, and the more I can learn. I can pick any topic I want and spend months just learning everything I can about it.

Re: Does understanding the science behind everything take some spice out of life?
 

There are no dead-ends in science, only the occasional awkward detour. If I've learned anything by studying the biological sciences, I've learned how little we actually know. You may be able to reduce something to chemicals, but the moment you add some other chemical to the reaction you get a new and entirely different product. I don't think that modern biology is any less fascinating than (what I suppose) the renaissance-alchemist's mission to turn lead to gold was.