Mind and Brain The Genius of Fortune Essay Example

These conditions have both material and divine causes. This investigation delves into the ancient concept of the mind or soul, examining its rational and non-rational abilities. It also explores how acquired habits and bodily dispositions shape human behavior. Recent discoveries in neuroscience align with ideas from ancient and Middle Age philosophy. Lastly, this essay concludes by reflecting on a question prompted by the preceding analysis: How do animals apply their appetitive powers to determine their behavior towards perceived objects? Aristotle believed that every living thing possesses a soul with various powers, including perceptual thinking through sensory perception of real objects in the world combined with other powers for recognizing similarities known as perceptual abstraction.

Based on its perceptual abstraction, an animal applies its appetitive powers to decide if it should be attracted to or avoid an object. The nature of an animal's appetitive power determines its behavior towards perceived objects.Lower animals, such as ants and bees, exhibit instinctual appetitive powers that dictate their behavior. In contrast, higher animals possess the ability to learn from experience in addition to their instincts. Both lower and higher animals engage in "thinking" on a perceptual level, utilizing various powers like nutritive, sensitive, appetitive, imaginative, and rememorative abilities.

Human beings share all of these non-rational powers with many other animals but also possess rational powers exclusive to human souls. These rational powers include cognitive power for perceiving variable objects through the senses and forming opinions about them. Humans also have calculative power for reasoning and making inferences along with conceptive power for comprehending unchanging intelligible objects such as forms and ideas.

It is this possession of rational powers that distinguishes humans

from animals. Unlike animals who are influenced by perceptual experiences in their appetitive behavior, humans' appetitive behavior is governed by their rational powers. Instead of relying on instincts or preprogrammed patterns of behavior like animals do, humans have free will and the potential to allow their rational powers to guide their appetitive desires.

Through reason, humans can desire actions that are truly beneficial even if they don't bring physical pleasure or involve suffering.The natural powers of the human mind are universal and unchanging across cultures, times, and places. The potentiality of the human mind can be compared to an empty tablet where nothing is written. This means that all individuals have the potential to utilize their rational abilities for their own benefit, and this potential exists equally in every person. In other words, everyone is born with an equal capacity to employ cognitive, calculative, and conceptive powers. However, there is a distinction between possessing these abilities and actually using them. The varying degree of talent in utilizing rational powers among individuals does not come from our inherent potentials, which are equally present in all humans. Rather, it comes from factors that influence how each person exercises their human potential.

Genius does not arise from our equal powers or potentials for rational thinking - our untainted blank slate - but from another source. As mentioned earlier, we use our rational abilities to govern the exercise of our desires; in other words, reason helps regulate our wants. The proper regulation of desires is facilitated through cultivating virtues or good habits while hindered by developing vices or bad habits.Habits are formed through repeated actions and are influenced by cultural conditions

and social environment. Although habits can lead to acquiring talents, some individuals naturally excel in certain areas regardless of their environment. This suggests that genius is not solely explained by cultural or social factors. Research on genetics indicates that genius tends to run in families, implying a physical cause. Therefore, human talents vary among individuals due to physical or material influences rather than immaterial powers.
The exercise of genius involves using the immaterial powers of the mind, although the extent to which individuals can utilize these powers is influenced by material factors. There appears to be a material element that supports the virtuous development of human potential, potentially determined genetically.Aquinas proposed a similar notion in his examination of whether one person can understand something better than another. Aquinas believed that some individuals have a deeper understanding due to their bodies' disposition, which gives their souls greater power. Therefore, superior intellectual ability encompasses more than just natural talents and learned habits. What sets individuals apart are innate bodily dispositions that differ from person to person. Following Aquinas's suggestion, we will refer to these as bodily dispositions. Considering this physical source of genius, it is useful to briefly explore recent developments in neuroscience. Neuroscientists have been actively studying the neural basis of mental phenomena and estimate that the human brain, weighing three to four pounds, contains 100 billion nerve cells called neurons. They believe that mental events can be linked to patterns of nerve impulses in the brain. By examining how these neurons function, communicate with each other, organize within networks, and adapt through experience, scientists aim to uncover the key to comprehending the entirety of mental life.Through

the observation of abnormalities in human sensory perception, combined with new tissue-staining techniques and the use of positron emission tomography (a device that measures increases in cerebral blood flow), scientists have discovered that specific areas of the brain specialize in different sensory functions and work together for specific tasks like vision. For example, research suggests that distinct brain regions process movement, color, and shape in relation to an approaching tennis ball.

The functioning of "parallel processing" remains unknown, but further investigation into the brain's structure and composition is expected to provide more insights. This research has already revealed a wide range of neuron types in the brain, exhibiting variations in shape, molecular structure, and chemical composition. Some neurons have short axons for communication with nearby neurons while others have long axons extending to different regions.

At birth, the brain is only a quarter of its adult size. The growth of the brain occurs as neurons increase in size and there is an expansion in the number of axons and their connections. The development of neural connections during brain growth can be compared to connecting telephone lines between homes and cities.

The extensive project of "wiring" in the brain is primarily determined by genetics, although genes only serve as a guide for axons to reach their correct destinations. Molecular cues in neurons assist in establishing connections between axons and the appropriate locations, which can be influenced by external factors such as chemicals, hormones, and sensory stimulation. Both genetic factors and various internal and external factors during prenatal development and early childhood impact the specificity of synaptic connections. Recent research suggests that differences among individuals, especially between men

and women, cannot be fully explained by environmental or cultural influences alone. Men tend to outperform women in certain spatial tasks while women excel at quickly identifying matching items. These differences are thought to be influenced by sex hormones and brain organization during early growth stages. Considering the influence of genetic makeup, chemical balance, sex hormones, and sensory stimulation on brain structure raises the question of whether Aquinas was correct in his belief that some individuals possess greater understanding due to their "bodies of better disposition." The evidence indicates that brain structure and composition play a role in an individual's ability to perform tasks, aligning with Aquinas' perspective that enhanced understanding may stem from a greater power of comprehension.

The text suggests that individuals with a favorable bodily disposition may have a greater understanding ability compared to others. For example, actors and those with photographic memories may naturally excel in memorization due to their brain's predisposition. While good habits can develop excellence in intellectual activities, those with a bodily inclination towards a specific kind of intellectual activity are likely to outperform others lacking such inclination. It has been proposed that the body's material conditions impact human potentialities' development.
A key question is whether physical conditions directly affect intellectual thought by influencing rational powers. For instance, does a mathematical genius possess a brain inclined towards superior calculation skills, or do extraordinary abilities arise from brain conditions favoring nonrational faculties like imagination and memory? In simpler terms, do physical conditions better prepare the mind for nonrational powers (such as nutritive, sensitive, imaginative, and rememorative faculties) which enhance rational functioning? Alternatively, do physical conditions equip the rational mind for its

operations?Aquinas suggests that material conditions have a direct impact on both nonrational and rational powers. He explains that bodily dispositions affect the intellect in two ways: 1) regarding the intellect itself, and 2) concerning the lower powers that support the functioning of the intellect. Aquinas also asserts that the intellect is crucial to human form. However, what if neurological research indicates that our understanding of form depends on the material attributes of the brain? An example of this is seen in Blindsight patients who can see but lack comprehension. These patients have not acquired knowledge because they are unaware of what they have seen. One specific patient, who suffered from a stroke resulting in a large prestriate lesion, can skillfully reproduce a sketch of St.Paul's Cathedral without comprehending it. His intact V1 system allows him to identify local elements of form and accurately copy them, but his prestriate lesion hinders him from integrating these lines into a complex whole, thus preventing recognition as a building. The patient's brain condition appears to have negatively affected his rational cognitive thought power - referring to understanding real objects and variable things typically perceived by the senses. However, it could be argued that this does not necessarily prove anything.The patient's physical condition may hinder only their perception, not their rational understanding of invariable forms. Further neurological research may be needed to provide a definite answer. However, if future neuroscientific studies prove that material conditions directly impact our rational abilities, does this mean we should reconsider our belief in the moderate immaterialistic perspective on the mind-brain relationship? The answer is no. According to Aristotle, intellect is merely potential and can

be likened to a blank tablet. In his work "On the Soul," he suggests that the soul can be seen as the dwelling place of forms, but this description applies only to the intellective soul and even then it is only potentially housing these forms, not actually possessing them. This distinction emphasizes that we must differentiate between having something and utilizing it – between potentially possessing our rational abilities and actively exercising them. Therefore, the exercise of our rational powers depends on the material brain as a necessary condition rather than just possessing these powers.Furthermore, the extent to which an individual's talents differ from others is influenced by the actual exercise of our rational abilities, rather than just the potential possession of them. Nevertheless, despite the influence of material conditions on recognition and rational thinking in the brain, immaterial potentiality remains essential for intellectual thought. Even if neuroscientific research shows a direct impact of material conditions on our rational powers, it does not contradict the belief that rational thought is purely immaterial. Thus, the moderate immaterialistic view of the mind-brain relationship remains valid.

The cause of superior intellectual power lies in the physical structure of the body or brain that is well-suited for exercising that power. The exercise of such power manifests in various talents dependent on specific structural and chemical composition of the brain. The formal cause of superior intellectual power results from exercising that power itself, displaying unique genius in any form it may take. The efficient cause combines nature and art as genetic makeup and external factors influence brain development. However, chance or Fortune also appears to impact intellectual talentParents with specific gene

structures may give birth to children with brains that are suitable for genius. The environment one is born into is determined by chance. Additionally, neuroscientists believe that randomness or Fortune plays a significant role in brain development. The wiring of billions of neurons guided by "molecular clues" allows chance to have a material impact. So the question remains: Is it reasonable to think that chance contributes to superior intellectual power?

Alder argues that there is no contradiction between chance, randomness, and contingency in the universe and God's creation of it, along with the presumed gift of conceptual thought to mankind. Cecil B. DeMille once stated that while all human brains share a similar structure, their true value lies in the intricate details. However, not every individual possesses the favorable physical conditions required for human genius to manifest.

However, if these conditions are influenced by material factors, humans may be able to create or modify them through genetic and pharmaceutical research. If neuroscience successfully comprehends the structural and chemical composition of the brain and discovers ways to artificially enhance the conditions behind human genius, we must decide whether we should use this knowledge to engineer genius in future generations – essentially creating what marketers might call "designer kids".In order to address this question, we need to examine the ultimate purpose of having superior intellectual power. Whether we define this purpose as the pursuit of truth, the practice of virtuous deeds, or simply contemplation, it is clear that enhancing our intellectual abilities is crucial for all three pursuits and would contribute to overall intellectual prowess. It would therefore be reasonable and justified to improve contemplation itself, which Aristotle considered

to be the highest form of activity valued for its own sake.

From the beginning, it has been noted that even those with limited capabilities should make the most of their innate talents, as cautioned by the Parable of the Talents. Therefore, if scientific exploration allows us to enhance our physical dispositions in order to improve our capacity for conceptual thinking, it seems both logical and divinely inspired to pursue such improvement.However, this should be done cautiously. In Shakespeare's Hamlet (GBWW I: 27, 59;II: 25, 59), the question is raised about what defines a man if his only purpose is to sleep and eat. This would make him no different from a beast. The implication is that humans have been given the capacity for reason and foresight, but it would be wasteful to let these abilities go unused.

The bibliography includes footnotes referencing Matthew 25:14-30 [back] which discusses talents as weights or sums of money with varying values in different ages and countries according to Dr. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. It further explains that the concept of faculty, borrowed from the metaphor of talents mentioned in holy writ, encompasses all rational powers as described by Mortimer J. Adler in Intellect: Mind Over Matter (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1990, pp.41-53).

Aristotle also believed that plants possess souls with powers such as nutrition, sensation (including touch), and appetite for nourishment as summarized in his work On the Soul (GBWW I: 8,631-68; II:7,631-68). Higher forms of life possess these powers along with additional ones.Animals possess the senses of sight, hearing, smell, and taste along with powers such as imagination and memory. The previous description of the nonrational powers and the rational

powers mentioned in the text are similar to the descriptions in Adler's Intellect, but they differ slightly in name for the purpose of simplifying the discussion (6.Adler, Intellect, pp., 34, 36, 57-60) (7.Ibid., p.136) (8.Aristotle, On the Soul (GBWW I:8, 661-62;II: 7, 661-62)).
Our desires are properly governed when we act upon right desires. For more information on this topic, refer to Mortimer J. Adler's book Desires, Right and Wrong (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1991) (9.Adler, Desires, Right and Wrong). Aquinas also discusses this topic in Summa Theologica (GBWW I: 19, 459-60;II: 17,
459-60) (10.Aquinas,
Summa Theologica).
In scientific articles published by various experts share their insights on related topics.
Gerald D. Fischbach discusses "Mind and Brain" (267 Scientific American, September
1992,p.48)
(11.Fischbach)
and Carla J.Shatz explores "The Developing Brain" (267 Scientific American,
September1992,
pp.62-63)
(12.Shatz). Additionally,
Doreen Kimura writes about "Sex Differences and
the Brain" (267Scientific American, September
1992,p.119)
(13.Kimura).
Regarding vision's connection to the brain,Aquinas states in Summa Theologica (
GBWW I:19, 460;II:17,
460)
that if an eye were an animal, its soul would be vision.Therefore, similar to how vision improves with a well-formed eye, the powers of the soul improve with a well-formed brain. Aristotle also discusses this concept in On the Soul (GBWW I: 8, 642; II: 7, 642) (14. Aquinas, Summa Theologica) (15.Aquinas, Summa Theologica). Additionally, Semir Zeki explores "The Visual Image in Mind and Brain" (267 Scientific American, September 1992, p.74) (16.Zeki) (17.Aristotle, On the Soul, GBWW I: 8,661-62; II:7 ,661-62).[back]18.Id.[back]19.Aristotle's doctrine of the "four causes" - material formal efficient and final - can be found in Aristotle Metaphysics(see for example Book I chaps.3-10)[GBWW I :8 ,501-11;II :7 ,501-11].[back]21.The disposition of certain bodies towards artistic talent and others towards mathematical talent can be compared to

the structure and composition of computer semiconductor chips: some chips are specifically structured for