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May 20, 2010

Putting it All Together

I began this blog in a effort to explain what I've been learning about the human use of cannabis and other drugs by taking advantage of the opportunity California’s version of “medical marijuana” had provided licensed physicians to interview pot users. Because recognition of that opportunity had, of necessity, been a function of my own naivete, I have also gradually come to see the blog as a record of my own loss of innocence, at least with respect to modern pot culture, which only began in 1946. To have been a true insider, I'd have had to be born at least a dozen years later. Another of several lessons learned along the way is that because our unique brains are able to accumulate and analyze information (create culture) to an unparalleled degree, the circumstances of any individual human's birth have a greater impact on their ultimate development than on any other mammal. Thus a felicitous combination of circumstances is all it takes for a Darwin, or an Einstein to emerge. Newton once said: "I have stood on the shoulders of giants." Given the right circumstances, any moderately intelligent human can become a giant.

The ramifications of that concept are staggering: as our species has been gradually adapting to its discovery of Science as an efficient new tool for deciphering its environment, it has been unwittingly contriving to use scientific technology as a mechanism for converting its home planet into an overpopulated and almost unmanageable prison. The flaw responsible for this sad state of affairs may well be the parallel evolutionary development of our brain’s emotional and cognitive centers in such a way that emotions ultimately control our most important choices, whether as individuals or groups. We also have related abilities: one is secretly acting out destructive fantasies as individuals; another is forming intense emotional bonds with various groups throughout life. The former predisposes to serial murder by individuals; the latter to wars motivated by racial and religious hatred.

Ironically, the best available evidence for these conclusions is to be found in our popular media which, as a result of the digital revolution, have enhanced the ability of individual humans to expose their cognitive skills and emotional flaws as never before. A convenient current example is media coverage of the series of ceremonial meetings now taking place in Washington between Presidents Obama of the US and Calderon of Mexico.

A cursory review of only a few of the news articles written so far confirms the reporters' reluctance to explore the incredible cognitive dissonance on display in the public statements of both men. Even more discouraging are the heated comments posted in response to various news items.

Doctor Tom

Posted by tjeffo at May 20, 2010 03:03 PM

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