The Synapse and the Soul
By ADAM KEIPER July 8, 2008;
Page A19 By Michael S. Gazzaniga
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121547414111533875.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
What is it that makes us human that sets us apart from other animals? What drives us to act altruistically? Why do we gossip and
flirt and empathize? How do we judge beauty, and why are we impelled to create works of art?
In "Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique," Michael S. Gazzaniga argues that modern neuroscience is on the brink of
offering us real answers to these questions answers more reliable and truthful than those that centuries of philosophy, religious
tradition and literature have offered. Thanks to advances in brain research, Mr. Gazzaniga believes, "things have changed." We can
at last set aside vague speculation and get down to facts. We can finally understand love and courtship and the roots of morality.
We can put an end to the "long windbag discussions about art." If we want answers, science has them.
What science tells us is simple and, by now, familiar: Who we are today is the result of eons of evolutionary adaptations serving
our basic biological impulses to survive and reproduce. Evolutionary pressures shaped our bodies and minds as well as our social
behaviors. There is almost nothing in human social life, Mr. Gazzaniga says, that cannot ultimately be explained by recourse to
evolution.
