Neuroscience and the Roots of Human Connections: The Social Synapse

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Humans work together on enormous scales to build complex tools as large as cities and create social networks that span the globe. What is the key to our success? This program examines the development of the human brain - and the brains of other animals - asking how neurons orchestrate communal behavior and guide group interactions, demonstrating how our social nature is key to our humanity.
PARTICIPANTS: Louise Barrett, Agustín Fuentes, Kevin Laland, Kevin Ochsner, Dietrich Stout
MODERATOR: John Donvan
Original program date: JUNE 2, 2017
WATCH THE LIVE Q&A WITH LOUSIE BARRETT: • WS CONNECT Q&A wth Lou...
MORE INFO ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS: www.worldscien...
This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.
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TOPICS:
The Roots of Human Connections 00:05
John Donvan introduction 03:14
Define culture 05:59
Why are humans a successful social animal? 10:40
The simulated cumulative culture box 18:31
The evidence of a social culture from 80,000 years ago. 24:30
The intersection of social psychology and Neuroscience 30:14
How to make an Acheulean hand axe 38:06
Does social behavior vary with brain size? 47:55
Is there a social brain apart from intelligence? 56:28
Studying human behavior across fields. 1:02:14
This program was recorded live on 6/2/17 and has been edited and condensed for our KZbin channel. Watch the original livestream here: • LIVESTREAM -The Social...

[@peterlloyd4447]

Now I'm learning to rewire and use awareness to study myself in conjunction with life. I've found that whilst I have found a sense of worth again, put a label on my purpose or to what I'm doing with my life at the moment (personal development), I am in a way my enthusiastic and motivated to live. This helps me socially, well atleast to test the waters socially initially and as I develop further I'd hope to build stronger friendships and routine. The issue is that I am constantly being intercepted by all of the initial triggers which impacted through PTSD chemical imbalances and habit again. I've almost shaken the emotional impacts of those past traumas and therefore am less distracted or derailed, but am now more alert and feeling invaded by another threat that isn't visible, even controversial and arguably not real. That brings a new set of issues that have a similar affect, only leaving me with choices to either avoid, ignore, doubt myself or investigate further. I'd like to say that I'm less affected by my current issues as opposed to the challenges and traumas previously, yet in many ways I find this more traumatic. I am looking at this journey as a great tool to understand first hand, the workings or mindsets of other victims, or to know the brain better in general. I'm concerned that without closure or knowing for certain which elements are my brains work and which are manipulations by another/others. I try to assume that if it can only be caused by another, then it is for a good cause, although not an experiment carried out appropriately (which is against my morals). I am aware that the universe has many, all but instantaneous responses to any requests or queries, that I can accept and process gradually, even gratefully. It is when technologies are involved that I become skeptical and on guard, sometimes I feel paranoid and dillusional, but I need these avenues to learn. I am clashing with stamping different or no meaning to the triggers and needing to know how or why they are far more present than ever before. The stats tell me that these things happen suspiciously more than they should or would normally. I want to help people, I want to help myself. I'd like to belong and have some consistency in living life, happier too, but I can't seem to get off of this roundabout.

[@CrowdedIsolation11]

You're definitely not trapped in that orbit alone. I too am traveling new avenues of social interaction that arguably aren't really there. I definitely relate to fear of manipulation whether for good or ill. But it definitely feels like a conscious evolutionary development.

[@miztx2syuiip590]

get the 700 page manual on fiber optic installation - so your not misinformed by a wiki and such - it's not good- The internet is cool love technology but am finding its not exactly a 2-way feeling --- everything seems off

[@LoveAndPeaceOccurs]

This did not address the title in the way I hoped it would ...it was interesting (to an extent) ... Thank You (all involved for this) ... I did start skipping some after about 40 minutes into it ...because I was hoping for more direct neurological links to connection ...which I never really found. However, I absolutely loved that the Neuro. Psych. was given opportunity to speak at the end and how he pointed out something that does need to realized more ... that women tend to take care of the group and work to befriend the others ... something not seen in study of males. This is especially distinctive in Bonobos ... and it is a driving force in why it tends to be women who invite others in our homes to eat (more often than men in general).

[@ShaeMacMillan]

Informative & enjoyable panel. Fascinating to discover that social skills are related to intelligence! Thanks for sharing

[@peterlloyd4447]

After traumatic experiences and wanting to avoid a threat without seeing it ( I guess that being groomed and abused at a very young age has something to do with this) I have had intuitions and moved from a position we were sitting, had friends compassionate and moved with me, then just afterwards something happened which justified the reason to move.

[@maxsterling8203]

Enjoy pure curiosity in that let it be excerise your curiosity but don’t be so curious as to always strive to remove all the mystery. just as the biologist suggests some novelty spreads through the culture so you won’t be left behind if it’s still mysterious your curiosity isn’t always defining you as it doesn’t always define the culture . Barret really echoed in my heart

[@christianarmstrong754]

One of the best WSF presentations yet!

[@LSun-it8zy]

Wouldn't be nice to have more of such thought-provoking discussions?

[@dismalthoughts]

For the box with 3 different levels, I wonder if they instructed or encouraged the kids to help each other, or if it happened organically? If they truly helped / learned from each other without any influence, that's a really interesting difference between us and those monkeys. Arguably the core reason we've advanced so much.

[@josephcoon5809]

Children are in the experimental phase of development. They will try every idea that comes to mind without wasting time determining whether the idea is viable. It is that decentralized nature of cognition that allows a childlike mentality to think outside the box of social constraints and invent things like frequency hopping encryption based on wireless communications and player piano technology.

[@vadaann1279]

This host is terrific.

[@daignat]

Prof Robert Sapolsky would've had a lot to say in this panel... too bad he was not there :(

[@krunoslavbanovac4356]

Agustín Fuentes is such great talker! He talks a bit too fast for my taste, but he is truly amazing!

[@emanfayyaz3089]

Yeah I definitely agree, he seems so passionate about the topic that it inspires the viewer in the end.

[@jonnyboi2967]

Ha! I watch this at 2x speed! Haha. Just kidding; watch at whatever pace you want...

[@jonnyboi2967]

I'm researching the Social Connection part of HEED 300. This is kiiiiiiiind of helpful.

[@globalcliques]

"That's why students get bored in college."

[@bashachemistry1111]

Check ur intention

[@KarmicBeats]

How is it possible to have video games and movies in an MRI machine? You have to remove all metal from your body. No electronic devices of any kind or metal even a small bit are allowed in or even within some number of feet from the machine.

[@mazurikiaroslavcseacpuradj5811]

Great video about the cognitive-intuitive relationships of people in society)

[@christopherdahl992]

It's good they explicitly focus on humans although much is extensible to the animal. If bacteria can be trained they must have goals. If they have goals they can be frustrated. And must have some form of mind.

[@christopherdahl992]

@@andrewzcolvin you presume a need for an apparatus where only a process is necessary. They can be trained. Which implies mind. It is precisely my point that these simple behaviors constitute a mind. And consciousness lies in the moment between sensation and action.

[@leeroydewitt4454]

@@christopherdahl992 I like your thought but is it not possible that a non conscious system can adapt proactively to the environment?

[@Rico-Suave_]

Watched all of it 1:07:04

[@shiitakestick]

this information will he news to those of you growing up in the big “successful” cities ..

[@jennyaskswhy]

So culture is only an extension of executive functioning?

[@satu8869]

Excelente

[@EarlCo]

Is our culture of technology affecting the human brain? In what way is modern technology the next phase of human evolution?

[@harshbhargava3356]

Yes is indeed i am not a professional but if you observe this generation is known as the most loneliest of all and partly technology is playing a big role. With technology making our life more easier and exposing our brains to more arousing things like games and other desires it is also making us more distant and competitive so at some point it will affect the biology and physiology of it if technology becomes the one governing our lifestyle and behavior wherein it should be the other way around.

[@artosmauvo4689]

@Zenothys thanks

[@artosmauvo4689]

@@harshbhargava3356 thanks

[@soheilamohammadi8949]

How can l find the subtitle of this film?

[@quantamentanglementofdivin76]

Why is the exposed perception of Neuro Cognition limited to the "brain" ? .....it's SO Much More Beyond that.

[@willalston9627]

Dogma, lack of imagination, cowardice. Louise Barrett was on to a more accurate integration when she said "Anthropocene" and mentioned the body system and the world system as one. Each perspective itself is a kind of hermeneutics, and we keep gathering notes of the Mystery, some even useful.

[@conceptualelegance]

how about avoifding assumptions u have 0 foundations for. sure its ok to mention the possibility of magic and shit. but to insist is stupid

[@CrowdedIsolation11]

Please explain further

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

Id love to know if this panel could truly find enough differences to define man as smart compared to local animals in ore colonial Africa, India, or other hunter gathers before civilized under colonialism.

[@peterlloyd4447]

Then on other end of this intuition, would be incorrect senses which hindered me and threatened my growth, life and joy.

[@johnhopkins6260]

Fuentes... Consider: the meaning of Red vs. Green, between western cultures and those of the Far East (to wit: traffic lights)

[@AjarnSpencer]

I never knew Mr. Bean was a scientist.

[@DubaiGuy08]

Maybe our ancestors 80,000 years ago were simply doodling on rock, because they were bored. Perhaps they were in quarantine from some mysterious illness around them...

[@KarmicBeats]

They were calculating the math of relativity.

[@regularguy8888]

25:30 They were making a ruler for food portioning

[@michaelwoodsmccausland5633]

With out technology Humanity would die in a night! Shine Bright! MWM

[@smerdopsis6092]

22:00

[@سامرحسينكاظم]

اﻹنتقال اﻵني We need to (Instantaneous transfer) For the arrival of man to distant countries in five seconds . We need electronic devices to develop an Instantaneous Transfer project, . (Immediate transport) depends on the measurement of quantum tangles . Quantum entanglement is quantitative telepathy . Remote rooms should be prepared for an immediate transport project experience . Different experiments should be performed on many animals For the immediate transportation project .

[@falseprophet4927]

ألله هو المحبه والرحمه PBS Space time touched on this!

[@conceptualelegance]

sigh, so low vision. of course children will teach eachother as their survival instincts are safe. they have families and food, and the main reward here is social. by teaching u gain the most. you guys seem to lack the essential variables of human design, and categorize them appropriately. thats why our science is in such a state. incompetence. people making some tests, and doing false interpretations of them that influence the culture NEGATIVELY

[@zaimahbegum-diamond1660]

45:00 what is top down planning?

[@stevefromsaskatoon830]

Authoritarianism

[@mustavogaia2655]

6:00

[@ALIHAIDER-tw7ex]

what is the main idea?

[@sad-qy7jz]

It’s a hypothesis that suggests that much of our unique human condition hinges on empathy, cooperation, perhaps an additional sense of some type of intuitiveness. We’ve evolved to operate through critical windows in which we retain some of those unique skills such as the mirror stage in which we begin to become self aware/develop mirror neurons and theory of mind when we become aware that others are experiencing their own unique world, language acquisition, etc .. its a panel discussing this idea and the field of social neuroscience- basically the neurological and socially constructed aspects of the human condition and how they differ but the viable intersections that might be useful in better understanding the nature of humanity. This clearly is also very continental, and based on some of the more recent discoveries and models that aren’t fully accepted by the mainstream yet. Psychosocial theory in direct practice or psychoanalysis in philosophy are kind of parallels but this is specifically a scientific lens dominating the discussion. A broader implication you might interpret can be echoed in the documentary on KZbin “the living universe” which describes how the recent decades of research and material change have suggested the world and universe are more analogous to an organism or biosphere

[@maxsterling8203]

@@sad-qy7jz nice !

[@spaceman5734]

you are looking at the wrong places for evolution. It is withing the DNa.

[@danmosley4387]

No social neuroscience researcher?

[@gratefulkm]

They talked for hours about half of thier brain and literally forget they have another half

[@quantamentanglementofdivin76]

Min marker 1h:2min "War" Lame Response.

[@simonmathews2304]

The squeamish crayon apically clear because color etiologically scare in a awful distance. secret, boundless comfort

[@fishisnotfishfish2267]

Speak for yourself I'm a loner lol most humans piss me off 😒