Date:May 19, 2008 (Mon.) 17：00-19：00PM
Venue:E207, 2nd floor of East Bldg. CSEAS
Title: Meaning of Life from Viewpoint of Brain Science
- Paradigm Reconversion in the Aged Society -
Presentation:
Kozo Matsubayashi (Professor, CSEAS)
Emiko Ochiai (Professor, Graduate School of Letters)
Kaoru Sugihara (Professor, CSEAS)
Even if the human genome is completely deciphered and we are able to create order-made transplantable organs using regenerative medicine, it seems unlikely that humans would agree to the transplanting of brains. In that case, it would be difficult to live past the age of 120. Up till now, the three parts of the human brain -- comprising the brain stem in charge of the life support system, the cerebral limbic system acting as a source of countless wants and desires, and the cerebral cortex supervising and carrying out the desires coming from the limbic system – worked in harmony to create human society and a “meaning of life.” Concepts such as “gratitude,” “sacrifice,” “risking one’s life for others,” or “faith,” which are innate to humans, can be thought of as wisdom built into the cerebral cortex to control the infinite number of desires arising from the limbic system.
It would be a paradigm shift if the human wisdom of the 21st century would become truly self-aware of the importance of balancing biology, ecosystem, human technology and civilization and endeavor to create a society in which truly felt a balance between “sustainable humanosphere,” “a beautiful of life,” and “a meaningful of life.”
【Discussion】
Comments from Dr. Ochiai Emiko
• Why has the incidence of Alzheimers and the number of elderly patients increased dramatically? Perhaps it is because society’s perception of the elderly has changed that the number of cases has increased.
• If that is the case, the question of how society accommodates the elderly becomes important.
• After the birth rate declines, there is a period of transition to a new equilibrium. In the U.S. and Europe, that period lasted half a century, and in Japan, 20 years. It is believed that this new equilibrium corresponds to our stable modernity. In other Asian countries, there has been no transition period which has led to instability in the present day.
• If we compare networks for the care of children and the elderly among Asian countries, while strong networks exist in China and Singapore, thanks to “community,” help from relatives, and introduction of hired domestic workers, in Japan these networks are weak.
Comments from Dr. Sugihara Kaoru
• In response to the question “what does it mean to ‘live/survive’?”, although it is possible to define this from many viewpoints such as human development, welfare, and politics, it is also important to include a cultural meaning, “life with dignity,” in the definition.
• Although the direction of the discussion was to learn from Asia, from the perspective of Asia and Africa, the priority is not happiness, etc. but rather the procurement of financial resources in order to survive. Perhaps the “gap” in the meaning of “survival” between the two groups getting larger?
Other comments
• The structure and balance between the three parts of the brain – the “brain stem” controlling the life-support system, the “limbic system” which governs emotions, and the “cerebral cortex” which makes culture and civilization possible -- is essential for the survival of humankind. This is analogous to the fact that the structure and balance of the three layers of geosphere, biosphere, and humanosphere (in the narrow sense), which is the theme of this program, is the foundation of sustainable development for the survival of humankind.
• If we think of pre-modern times, stable modern times, and destabilization due to globalization as three stages of development – it would be interesting to explore a new approach for considering how “living/survival” can be defined differently in the third stage.
(Taizo Wada)