[FRom Dick Robertson,2008.09.17.1040CDT]
I thought this was a bit cute, at least, anent the question of whether “the body” can perceive.
From the current University of Chicago Magazine.
Diagnosis: Loneliness
The need for companionship is so deeply ingrained, says Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, that loneliness can be felt at a cellular level. In a new book, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection (W. W. Norton), Cacioppo and coauthor William Patrick describe how a chronic sense of isolation can hinder blood flow, raise daily stress-hormone levels, alter immune cells’ gene expression, and hasten the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
http://news.uchicago.edu/news.php?asset_id=1434
Best,
Dick R.
[From Bill Powers (2008.09.17.1034 MDT)]
Dick Robertson,2008.09.17.1040CDT –
From the current University of
Chicago Magazine.
Diagnosis: Loneliness
The need for companionship is so deeply ingrained, says Chicago
psychologist John Cacioppo, that loneliness can be felt at a cellular
level. In a new book, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection (W. W. Norton), Cacioppo and coauthor William Patrick describe
how a chronic sense of isolation can hinder blood flow, raise daily
stress-hormone levels, alter immune cells’ gene expression, and hasten
the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Not one of those things can be felt at the cellular level. They can exist
at that level, but they can’t be felt unless they alter something that
excites sensory neurons and sends signals upstairs.
And why don’t these guys ever try to follow the causal chain farther
back? What lowered the blood flow, raised the hormone levels, altered the
immune cells, and made the disease progress? If you stop your detective
work as soon as you come across a physiological effect, of course
everything is going to look as if it has a physiological cause. What you
want is always found in the last place you look for it.
Best,
Bill P.
Best,
Bill P.
[From Dick Robertson,2008.09.17.1320CDT]
[From Bill Powers (2008.09.17.1034 MDT)]
Dick Robertson,2008.09.17.1040CDT –
From the current University of Chicago Magazine.
> Diagnosis: Loneliness
The need for companionship is so deeply ingrained, says Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, that loneliness can be felt at a cellular level. In a new book, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection (W. W. Norton), Cacioppo and coauthor William Patrick describe how a chronic sense of isolation can hinder blood flow, raise daily stress-hormone levels, alter immune cells’ gene expression, and hasten the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Not one of those things can be felt at the cellular level. They can exist at that level, but they can’t be felt unless they alter something that excites sensory neurons and sends signals upstairs.
And why don’t these guys ever try to follow the causal chain farther back? What lowered the blood flow, raised the hormone levels, altered the immune cells, and made the disease progress? If you stop your detective work as soon as you come across a physiological effect, of course everything is going to look as if it has a physiological cause. What you want is always found in the last place you look for it.
These look like questions that should be posed to them. I have had good luck in getting comments I sent them published. I’d love to see their reply to you posting it to them. After all, you are an alumnus too, and they should be getting familiar with your work.
Best,
Dick R.