Comparing Born to be Good and Biology of Belief - Essay Example

s School Nature V Nurture is an ongoing debate for ages now, and it takes different perspectives while it comes up during a discussion. This paper aims at distinguishing between the works of two authors i.e. Dacher Keltner and Dr. Bruce Lipton, both being highly experienced in the fields of psychology. Prior to discussing the distinguishing aspects which they have discussed in their book, it is crucial to identify their backgrounds, as that would help seek a deeper insight about their viewpoints. Keltner is a professor by profession, who has taught at the University of California, Berkeley. He was interested in studying emotions and how these emotions contributed in our lives socially. He was also influenced by Paul Ekman, who was his teacher, also a pioneer in the field of behavioral psychology. In 1970, Ekman worked on the facial expressions of various individuals to encode the hidden messages behind these emotional signals. Thus, Keltner sought inspiration on his and contributed greatly towards the study of innate positive emotions. On the other hand, Dr. Bruce Lipton, also a well renowned professor, taught Cell Biology at the University of Wisconsin`s School of Medicine. Also, he had conducted his research during his stay at Stanford as a student. After having exposed to the area of genetics as well as cell biology, he managed to reveal many myths associated with individuals, genes and human behavior. The main difference between the two lies in the basic nature V nurture debate, where Keltner places his assumptions regarding positive emotions in the context of innate psychological makeup which an individual naturally possess. In contrast, Lipton is of the view that human genetic have a limited role to play in the conditioning of the individual, as the for the most part the environmental factors are responsible for the development of behavioral patterns. In order to contrast the two works, it is first important to study the works in detail. Studying the work of Keltner in his book, Born to be Good, one is able to drawn clear patterns about his views regarding human emotions. The basic idea which he tried to propagate through the book relates to the positive emotions possessed by the humans. He is of the view that all humans, good or bad, have an innate ability to avoid the “nasty, brutish and short”, and instead all human tend to naturally lead a happy and a helpful life (Keltner pp 17) This implies that though some humans are found to possess the evil traits as well, but still they are naturally born to do the opposite, i.e. to live a contented life aim at keeping everyone around us happy. His main argument lies in the proposition that, if so many people are of the view that humans are evil by nature then what is it that compels them to portray positive emotions like gratification, awe, compassion and the like? (Keltner pp11) He is also a believer in the assumption that true happiness is achieved by social connections which are in turn a product of positive human emotions towards each other. Keltner applies his scientific knowledge and expertise in the field, and tries to explore all aspects of positive human emotions. As mentioned above, Keltner (pp 231) applies scientific data to the emotional behaviors and puts in all his efforts and expertise to explore the reasons behind the positive human emotions which they exhibit. He tries to identify the sole factors driving these positive human emotions and compassion towards each other to make logically sound conclusions. He also talks about the evils prevailing in the world, as these are also the inevitable aspects of human behavior; however he tends to rather base his arguments on the positive human behavior driving various explanations for the cause. He talks about the altruistic activities stimulated by the individuals, which is more refined in a few people. This book is thus an effort to find the find the factors behind these altruistic motives of the individuals, also to explore why some people are more altruistic than the others. The main focus of his research has been emotions in a social context along with effort and reasoning. The opening chapter of the book stresses light on the significance of “Jen”, and he has borrowed this concept from the Confucius teachings (Keltner pp 37). This term relates "a mixture of kindness, humanity, and respect that transpires between people.” And these qualities are essential to bring out the best amongst the individuals. In his book, Keltner deems Jen as a crucial element for promoting human happiness and kindness, which he claims is an innate ability of the individuals and the evolution of the good within the people owes much to the Jen possessed by individuals. In the text of the book, Keltner (pp 36) quotes that, "Jen is felt in that deeply satisfying moment when you bring out the good in others". Further on, he goes on talking about the Jen ratio within individuals and claims that just by reading the book written by Keltner, the Jen ratio will automatically be enhanced within individuals. Next, he bases his theory on the assumptions proposed by Darwin and his observations during his stay with Paul Ekman where he learned about the signals which the emotional expressions portray. Darwin talks about the power and the influence of sympathy on others, and he states that the secret to healthy relationship lies in sympathy which contributes much in developing a better connection between the individuals. Thus, based on the assumptions of Darwin regarding the positive emotions, Keltner (pp 54) also talks about the positive relations amongst people. Also, the propositions put forth by him are based on the influence of Paul Ekman who studied human emotions in context of the social meanings attached to these expressions. Based on these assumptions he has managed to make a few arguments stating that; emotions represent a sense of commitment to others, emotions are roots inside our bodies as well as our brains, and emotions are responsible for moral development amongst individuals. On one hand where Darwin talks about the survival of the fittest, at the same time Keltner replaces fittest with the kindest. Thus, in his view the one who has the highest standards of morality and are the happiest of all are the best amongst their breed (Keltner pp 65). In his chapters following the beginning ones, he further dissects different kinds of emotions and encodes all emotions exhibited by individuals in detail. He seeks inspiration from different kinds of subjects like philosophy, art and literature. For instance, he talks about embarrassment which he deems as being an ethical concern associated with modesty. He identifies embarrassment as being a crucial element possessed by an individual, otherwise that would mean that the individual is unaffected by the unethical practices which occur to them. Similarly, he is of the view that smile is also an important social tool which tends to help enhance connectivity amongst the individuals. Thus, smile is one of the most important expressions which help develop social relations amongst individuals. Also, he labels smile as an expression for being the first step for nirvana. His views about the expression for touch is labeled as a source for reward, thus he give sole important to this physical expression. Similarly, he goes on talking about expressions for teasing, love, compassion and awe, and dissects all of these expressions thoroughly associating it one of them with different social meanings. He deals with the subject in a light manner, due to which many psychologists or rather researchers fail to take his work seriously in context to their academic works. Dr. Lipton being a PhD in the field of cell biology and a renowned research base his assumptions on the scientific study of cells in the human body. In his book, The Biology of belief, he studies behavior from the genetic point of view and comes up with the conclusion that the cell biology has little to do with the biology of the humans and the environmental factors are the ones contributing the most in the development of an individual. To express the idea, he quotes that, “when a gene product is needed, a signal from the environment not an emergent property of the gene itself activates expression of that gene, In other words, when it comes to genetic control “It’s the environment stupid”” (Lipton pp 65). His research reveals interesting information about the behavioral patterns of humans which he states in a convincing yet a credible science. On one hand, where the conversational style used by Keltner challenges his credibility, at the same time the scientific genetic arguments put forth by Lipton have managed to convince many researchers. Generally, he is of the view that the DNA responsible for the individuals` behavior isn’t influenced by the innate factors as much, however the external factors contribute much to the behavioral development of the individuals (Lipton pp 58). In contrast, Keltner is of the view that the innate ability of the individuals tend to contribute towards the development of the positive personality attributes amongst the individuals. Lipton (pp 9) is of the view that the negative or the positive influence from the environment tends to incorporate the messages to the genes which in turn influences the way in which humans act. His work was a major breakthrough in the field of psychology as he gave a whole new dimension to the schools of thought dominant during the time, as he propagated the viewpoint that if one changes the thinking patterns, biological changes will follow. He develops an interesting and a rational approach while studying the genetic makeup. He explains the process via protein switch located in the human cell, which can be turned on and off depending on the information one receives from the outside sources. Thus, he uses the science derived from epigenetics to prove his point. In this context he states that, “Genes-as-density theorists have obviously ignored hundred-year-old science about enucleated cells… epigenetics, which literally means “control above genetics” profoundly changes our understanding about how life is controlled. In the last decade, epigenetic research has established that DNA blueprints passed down though genes are not set in concrete at birth. Genes are not density! Environmental influenced, including nutrition, stress and emotions can modify those genes without changing their basic blueprints…” (Lipton pp 57). Thus, his persuasive style qualifies all aspects needed to produce a sound argument, as he blends the element of persuasion which logic and rationality which naturally enhances the credibility. Furthermore, he talks about the interaction between the elements present in a cell, especially the cell membrane and the DNA. He proves via scientific evidence that the cell membrane seeks to acquire the messages from external sources and communicate these masses to the cell, which tends to alter to modify the biological makeup of an individual. Also, he explains the process of internal healing and the feelings of joy and happiness via response mechanism of the cell membrane. He argues that the cell membrane has the capability to vibrate in response to the external messages which, in positive, contribute in the emotional well being of an individual (Lipton pp 90). This proposition is completely distinct from that of the Keltner who tends to believe that positive emotional make-up within the individuals is a result of the innate abilities found amongst these individuals. Moreover, Lipton (pp 95) also bases his arguments on the principles of quantum physics as the cells undergo many chemical reactions, and to explain these reactions, it is important to study it from the quantum physics point of view. Thus, he explains how matter and energy are interconnected due to which external factors for sure contribute to a significant level in the biological and behavioral development of individuals. Chapter 5 of the book, Biology and belief, is the most interesting ones where he reveals important information via stating real life examples. For instance, he mentions the experiences of the knee arthritis where the patients were divided into two groups, one of the groups underwent real surgery while the other group went through a fake surgery (Lipton pp 62). By the end of the experiment, similar results were observed in both the groups, which imply that after the surgery both groups saw a positive change in their lives as if they were treated. This explains how the external factors and the psyche contribute in the behavioral patterns of individuals which undermine the role of the internal biological makeup of these people. Similarly, an study was designed where the antidepressant pills for patients were replaced with simple sugar pills, and the patients felt a positive change in their lives despite the intake of the wrong pills (Lipton pp 162). Another interesting case revealed that a cancer patient, after having diagnosed with a cancer having the tendency to kill the individual, the patient passed away, however later it was revealed that the reason after his death wasn’t cancer. This implies that he didn’t die of cancer; instead it was his mindset which dictated him that he would eventually die (Lipton pp 166). Thus, Dr. Lipton convinces the audience in a very persuasive way that the external factors i.e. the environment feeding of information is a very important, in fact the most important one, in shaping the internal biological makeup within the individual. Moreover, Dr. Lipton focuses on the significance of the conscious and the subconscious mind. He is of the view that every human possess a conscious mind and an unconscious one. It is easy to erase and store information in the conscious mind, however, once the data gets stored at the sub-conscious level it becomes difficult to erase that information no matter is it`s positive or negative. For instance, Bruce compares the subconscious mind with a computerized program which needs to be constantly fed with the right kind of information; otherwise it will start imitating the wrong messages which will in turn be unhealthy for the individual. Thus, Bruce is of the view that all individuals should constantly keep feeding positive information inside their subconscious otherwise; consequences might turn out to be ugly. Comparing both books written more or less over the same subject, two contrasting views can be generated regarding the debate. Firstly, clear distinctive positions can be traced for the two authors regarding the nurture V nature debate. Keltner clearly favors the nurture side as he is of the view that all the positive traits are innate and already present within the biological setup of the individuals. On the other side, Lipton takes the nurture point of view stating that the environmental factors can prove to be a strong influence on the biological makeup of the state. Moreover, Keltner studies the subject keeping emotions and social perspective in his mind, explaining the reasons behind the positive emotional expressions laying his arguments over the internal makeup of the individuals. On the other hand, Lipton stresses similar important to both the positive as well as the negative attitudes portrayed by the individuals and labels the external factors being responsible. Also, another difference lies in the construction of the debate by both the individuals, i.e. Keltner lays the foundation over the Darwin school of thought as well as over his study over emotions with Erik, while Lipton gives rational and scientific reasons with scientific evidence. In other words, the work of Keltner is supported more by arts and philosophy, however, Lipton uses purely scientific knowledge. This is the sole reason why the work of Lipton is given more importance than that produced by Keltner. In this context, to present an unbiased account of the position, quotes can be presented by different critiques. For instance, in the words of Karl H. Pribram who is a professor at the Standford University, “Bruce Lipton’s delightfully written The Biology of Belief is a much-needed antidote to the ‘bottom-up’ materialism of today’s society. The idea that DNA encodes all of life’s development is being successfully employed in genetic engineering. At the same time, the shortfall of this approach is becoming evident. The Biology of Belief is a review of a quarter-century of pioneering results in Epigenetics, heralded by the Wall Street Science Journal in mid-2004 as an important new field. Its personal style makes it eminently readable and enjoyable.” This and other similar accounts highly appraise the efforts of Lipton in the field as he has made a valid as well as a valuable contribution to the field. On the other hand, Keltner`s “Born to be good” has faced critiques from various sources, however it has been acclaimed by a few. Since the evidence is more of philosophical, much weight isn’t stressed over the assumptions he has proposed, and his informal style challenges his credibility even more. A book review for the book published over the Newyork Times states that; “The big problem with his approach is contextual: Once this book establishes that touching, for instance, is a physiological way of encouraging cooperative behavior or that embarrassment is a way to deflect combat, it is content to rest there - too content. Beyond arguing that a better understanding of these shared emotions can lead to a more fulfilling life, Keltner does not connect more dangerous and destructive behaviors to states of bliss.” Thus, loopholes may be pointed out within the text of the book. Thus, conclusively, both works are quite different in context to each other, though written over the same subject. Keltner is a nature advocate and believes in the innate ability of the individuals to be kind and stay happy, which is different in ratio amongst different individuals. However, according to Lipton all kinds of responses are a result of the external environmental factor. Still, both works are entertaining and informative to read, but it is natural to conceive one as being a more credible one based on the delivery style as well as on the argumentative style of the authors. Otherwise, both pieces are valuable works contributing towards the field of psychology in their own scopes. References: Lipton, Bruce H. The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Carlsbad, Calif: Hay House, 2008. PrintLipton, Bruce H. The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Carlsbad, Calif: Hay House, 2008. Print. Keltner, Dacher. Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2009. Print The New York Times. The New York Times. Web. 19 May 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/arts/21iht-bookven.1.19564226.html?_r=1 "Dr. Frank Lipman, The Voice of Sustainable Wellness." A Review of The Biology Of Belief. Web. 19 May 2012. Read More