"The Ethical Brain"

Michael S. Gazzaniga, "The Ethical Brain", 2005, New York, Harper

Brain imaging shows that the area of the cortex that corresponds to the left hand in string players is enlarged compared to that in non-string playing controls. In short, practice changes the brain areas involved in producing specific movements.（p.63）

we have entered a new era in scientific history --- an era that allows neuroscientists to investigate individual differences in intelligence, an investigation previously left to the field of psychology.（p.82）

Educational communities should enter a new era, where educational theories are based on individual human development rather than on humans in mass

We need to distinguish between brains, minds, and personhood.（p.89）

a brain, a mind, and a spirit

If the readiness potential of the brain begins before we are aware of making the decision to move our hand, it would appear that our brains know our decisions before we become conscious of them.（p.92/93）

readiness→conscious→move?→readiness→move→conscious?
I doubt if it does matter.

the brain is determined, but the person is free.（p.99）

It sounds nonsense,or it doesn't make sense at all.All of us are trying to read the minds of others all the time.（p.103）

Not a waking minute goes by when we, the social animal, are not trying to figure out the intentions of others.（p.103）

Of all the things we remember, the truly amazing fact is that some of them are true.（p.120）

Splemdid! What a fantastically accurate statement!

memory is a social or cultural phenomenon（p.121）

Given what we know about how memory works, some techniques can improve an eyewitness's accurate recall of an incident, and others can improve interviews to maximize the chances of getting a more accurate recollection. A witness should write down everything he or she remembers as soon as possible.（p.139）

A simple but very wise way.

our species instinctively reacts to events, and in a specialized system of the human brain that reaction is interprited. Out of that interpretation, beliefs emerge about rules to live by.（p.146）

in our species, the mind has a core set of reactions to life's challenges, and that we attribute a morality to these reactions after the fact.（p.147）

Neuropsychology keeps instructing us that, whether we like it or not, specific brain areas seem to be more involved with specific cognitive states than are others.(p.156）

Humans are belief-formation machines. We form beliefs fast and firmly, and then deepen them. We quickly lose insight into their origins or their frequent strangeness and hold to them to be meaningful, guiding presences in our lives. We become beholden to them and will adhere to them even in the face of information to the contrary. It seems to be what our human brains do.（p.161）

We are big animals, and only 5,000 generations ago there were just 10,000 of us roaming the world. Our genes stem from those 10,000 people and are 99.9 percent the same.（p.163）

The harsh, cold fact, however, is that these rich, metaphoric, engaging ideas --- whether philosophical, scientific, or religious --- are stories, although some are based in more evidence than others.（p.164）