Abstract
This chapter provides a background and a schematic overview of the book. In this volume we argue that meditation enables us to influence some aspects of our biological make-up and could, for example, boost our cognitive flexibility as well as our ability (and propensity) to act compassionately. Then we proceed to seek to connect a number of such changes to an improved capacity for instilling and maintaining a range of character traits (primarily epistemic virtues) as identified by Aristotle and some modern virtue epistemologists. Cultivating the virtues is of course beneficial for the individual but it seems likely that it also has a positive effect on the surrounding society and their fellow citizens.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
From ‘The Rock’ by T.S Eliot, 1934
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Notes
- 1.
Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V., Schuierer, G., Bogdahn, U., & May, A. (2004). Neuroplasticity: changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427(6972), 311–312. Pinho, A. L., de Manzano, Ö., Fransson, P., Eriksson, H., & Ullén, F. (2014). Connecting to Create: Expertise in Musical Improvisation Is Associated with Increased Functional Connectivity between Premotor and Prefrontal Areas. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(18), 6156–6163. Mårtensson, J., Eriksson, J., Bodammer, N. C., Lindgren, M., Johansson, M., Nyberg, L., & Lövdén, M. (2012). Growth of language-related brain areas after foreign language learning. Neuroimage, 63(1), 240–244. Woollett, K., & Maguire, E. A. (2011). Acquiring “The Knowledge” of London’s layout drives structural brain changes. Current biology, 21(24), 2109–2114.
- 2.
Note that while this position evidently is based on virtue ethics and Aristotle’s account this underlying theory will not be defended in this article for space reasons.
- 3.
Varela F, Thompson E, Rosch E. (1991) The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience MIT Press. Gallagher S, Zahavi D. (2012) The Phenomenological Mind. Routledge, Oxon.
- 4.
Iyengar, Sheena. The art of choosing. Twelve, 2010.
- 5.
Qin S, Hermans EJ, van Marle HJ, Luo J, Fernandez G (2009) Acute psychological stress reduces working memory-related activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Biological Psychiatry 66:25–32. Arnsten, A. F. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nat Rev Neurosci, 10(6), 410–422.
- 6.
Golkar, A., Johansson, E., Kasahara, M., Osika, W., Perski, A., & Savic, I. (2014). The influence of work-related chronic stress on the regulation of emotion and on functional connectivity in the brain. PloS one, 9(9), e104550. For a discussion on ‘status quo bias’ and its consequences see Chap. 3.
- 7.
Hayes, S. C., Wilson, K. G., Gifford, E. V., Follette, V. M., & Strosahl, K. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 64(6), 1152.
- 8.
Wegner, Daniel M.; Schneider, David J.; Carter, Samuel R.; White, Teri L. (1987). “Paradoxical effects of thought suppression”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53(1): 5–13.
- 9.
Valued direction is a concept that is used in counselling and psychological treatment, in e.g. acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The client/patient is encouraged to make ratings of what is important to him/her and, then, rate how satisfied one is with the current state of being in these areas, and then formulate ones intentions, ones valued direction in life. Eifert, G. H., & Forsyth, J. P. (2008). The mindfulness and acceptance workbook for anxiety: A guide to breaking free from anxiety, phobias, and worry using acceptance and commitment therapy. New Harbinger Publications.
- 10.
We define a bias here as a form of heuristic or shortcut that the human brain is prone to when engaging in e.g. decision-making, general assessment of events, ranking how important events/facts are and what to pay attention to in a situation.
- 11.
Avoiding the tragedy of the commons scenarios as described by e.g. Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248.
- 12.
Kyaga, S., Landén, M., Boman, M., Hultman, C. M., Långström, N., & Lichtenstein, P. (2013). Mental illness, suicide and creativity: 40-year prospective total population study. Journal of psychiatric research, 47(1), 83–90.
- 13.
The focus of this book is cognitive enhancement (as opposed to physical and moral enhancements) and how that could be achieved through committing to meditation and virtue ethics. Note however, that some philosophers have argued that in order to handle the potential dangers of cognitive enhancement humans need moral enhancement and, further, that this would be best brought about not through virtue ethics but rather by pharmaceutical drugs and or hormones. For an interesting account see Douglas, T. (2008). Moral enhancement. Journal of applied philosophy, 25(3), 228–245. Persson, I., & Savulescu, J. (2008). The perils of cognitive enhancement and the urgent imperative to enhance the moral character of humanity. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 25(3), 162–177. See also Chap. 6 for a discussion.
- 14.
- 15.
See e.g. Laxminarayan, R., Duse, A., Wattal, C., Zaidi, A. K., Wertheim, H. F., Sumpradit, N., … & Cars, O. (2013). Antibiotic resistance—the need for global solutions. The Lancet infectious diseases, 13(12), 1057–1098. Deblonde, T., & Hartemann, P. (2013). Environmental impact of medical prescriptions: assessing the risks and hazards of persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity of pharmaceuticals. Public health, 127(4), 312–317.
- 16.
- 17.
Missimer, M. (2013). The social dimension of strategic sustainable development. Licentiate Dissertation, Blekinge Institute of Technology. Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University press.
- 18.
Free will and moral responsibility falls outside the scope of this volume but for a very interesting account of an agency cultivation model (of how holding someone morally accountable for their actions and the effects of practices matters when it comes to cultivating moral agency) see Vargas, M. (2013). Building better beings: A theory of moral responsibility. Oxford University Press.
- 19.
These are the type of people that Aristotle referred to as continent. They know what they should do and most of the time they are able to act accordingly but since the virtues are not properly instilled they are not reliable decision-makers. See Chap. 5.
- 20.
For both sides of the discussion see e.g. Harman. (1999). Moral philosophy meets social psychology: virtue ethics and the fundamental attribution error. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 99: 315–331. Darley, J. M., & Batson, C. D. (1973). “From Jerusalem to Jericho”: A study of situational and dispositional variables in helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27(1), 100. Doris, J. M. (2002). Lack of character: Personality and moral behavior. Cambridge University Press. Haidt, J., Seder, J. P., & Kesebir, S. (2008). Hive psychology, happiness, and public policy. The Journal of Legal Studies, 37(S2), S133–S156. Hursthouse. 1991. Virtue theory and abortion. Philosophy and Public Affairs 20(3): 223–246. Nussbaum, M. (1986). The fragility of goodness: luck and ethics in Greek tragedy and philosophy. Cambridge University Press. Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371. Hobbes, T. (1969). Leviathan, 1651. Scholar Press.
- 21.
For the purpose of this discussion, we have chosen to use the umbrella term “systemic bias” describing the inherent tendency of a (mental) process to primed by biological and social/environmental factors, which subsequently influences behavior and decision making. Unfortunately the agent tends to be unaware of the nature and magnitude of such bias. See e.g. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive psychology, 5(2), 207–232. Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1996). On the reality of cognitive illusions.
- 22.
For an interesting study involving people’s political values on the combination of in-group preferences with the above-average effect in American voters see Eriksson, K., & Funcke, A. (2012). American political ingroup bias and the above-average effect. Available at SSRN 2168264.
- 23.
Hadjikhani, N., Kveraga, K., Naik, P., & Ahlfors, S. P. (2009). Early (N170) activation of face-specific cortex by face-like objects. Neuroreport, 20(4), 403. Voss, J. L., Federmeier, K. D., & Paller, K. A. (2011). The potato chip really does look like Elvis! Neural hallmarks of conceptual processing associated with finding novel shapes subjectively meaningful. Cerebral Cortex, bhr315.
- 24.
Rand, D. G., Greene, J. D., & Nowak, M. A. (2012). Spontaneous giving and calculated greed. Nature, 489(7416), 427–430.
- 25.
Tinghög, G., Andersson, D., Bonn, C., Böttiger, H., Josephson, C., Lundgren, G., … & Johannesson, M. (2013). Intuition and cooperation reconsidered. Nature, 498(7452), E1–E2. Verkoeijen, P. P., & Bouwmeester, S. (2014). Does intuition cause cooperation? PloS one, 9(5), e96654.
- 26.
Here the “Ultimate Game” was used, an experimental game for studying the punishment of norm-violating behaviour. Gospic K, Mohlin E, Fransson P, Petrovic P, Johannesson M, et al. (2011) Limbic Justice—Amygdala Involvement in Immediate Rejection in the Ultimatum Game. PLoS Biol 9(5): e1001054.
- 27.
Vernon, M. (2011). Buddhism is the new opium of the people. Te Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk, 22. Britton, W. B., Lindahl, J. R., Cahn, B. R., Davis, J. H., & Goldman, R. E. (2014). Awakening is not a metaphor: the effects of Buddhist meditation practices on basic wakefulness. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1307(1), 64–81.
- 28.
Gospic, K., Sundberg, M., Maeder, J., Fransson, P., Petrovic, P., Isacsson, G., … & Ingvar, M. (2014). Altruism costs—the cheap signal from amygdala. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 9(9), 1325–1332.
- 29.
Carmona‐Perera, M., Clark, L., Young, L., Pérez‐García, M., & Verdejo‐García, A. (2014). Impaired Decoding of Fear and Disgust Predicts Utilitarian Moral Judgment in Alcohol‐Dependent Individuals. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 38(1), 179–185.
- 30.
In a recent review Russell & Giner-Sorolla present empirical evidence that moral disgust, in the context of bodily violations, is a relatively primitively appraised moral emotion compared to others such as anger, and also that it is less flexible and less prone to external justifications. They underscore the need to distinguish between the different consequences of moral emotion. Russell, P. S., & Giner-Sorolla, R. (2013). Bodily moral disgust: What it is, how it is different from anger, and why it is an unreasoned emotion. Psychological bulletin, 139(2), 328.
- 31.
By this we mean decision-making based on un-reflected gut reactions NOT people’s strong moral intuitions which would be well considered, stable and able to withstand the test of time.
- 32.
Romanowska J. (2014) Improving Leadership Through the Power of Words and Music. Doctoral dissertation. Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
- 33.
De Vries, M. F. K. (1990). The organizational fool: Balancing a leader’s hubris. Human Relations, 43, 751–770.
- 34.
For how stress influences ethical decisions and is likely to reduce people’s pro-social behaviours, and motivation to take others’ interest into account see e.g. Jex, S., G. A. Adams, D. G. Bachrach, & S. Sorenson. (2003). The Impact of Situational Constraints, Role Stressors, and Commitment on Employee Altruism. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 8(3), 171–180.
- 35.
For how stress has a negative influence on people’s moral actions as well as on capacity for self-regulation and self-control see Selart, M., & Johansen, S. T. (2011). Ethical decision making in organizations: The role of leadership stress. Journal of Business Ethics, 99, 129–143. doi: 10.1007/s10551-010-0649-0.
- 36.
For a popularized discussion, see Taleb, N. N. (2010). The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Fragility. Random House. Note that Taleb has developed this line of thought further, and proposes that some systems can benefit from mistakes, faults, attacks, or failures, if the system has antifragile properties. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2012). Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. Random House. p. 430.
- 37.
Van Heerden, I. L. (2007). The failure of the New Orleans levee system following hurricane Katrina and the pathway forward. Public Administration Review, 67(s1), 24–35. Pardue, J. H., Moe, W. M., McInnis, D., Thibodeaux, L. J., Valsaraj, K. T., Maciasz, E., … & Yuan, Q. Z. (2005). Chemical and microbiological parameters in New Orleans floodwater following Hurricane Katrina. Environmental science & technology, 39(22), 8591–8599.
- 38.
For a discussion on the complexity of risk assessments and appropriate steps and measures see e.g. Hansson, S. O. (2004). Philosophical perspectives on risk. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology, 8(1), 10–35.
- 39.
See for example Brefczynski-Lewis, J. A., Lutz, A., Schaefer, H. S., Levinson, D. B., & Davidson, R. J. (2007). Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners. Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences, 104(27), 11483–11488. Slagter, H. A., Davidson, R. J., and Lutz, A. (2011). Mental training as a tool in the neuroscientific study of brain and cognitive plasticity. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 5:17. Ricard, M., Lutz, A., & Davidson, R. J. (2014). Mind of the Meditator. Scientific American, 311(5), 38–45.
- 40.
One description of contemplative sciences would be: Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long tested their own theories with the help of developed meditative skills of observation and experimentation. Contemplative science aims for a deep knowledge of mental phenomena, including a wide range of states of consciousness, and its emphasis on strict mental discipline counteracts the effects of conative (intention and desire), attentional, cognitive, and affective imbalances. The integration of (neuro)science and contemplation is often highlighted as the aim of contemplative sciences. Wallace, B. Alan. Contemplative science: Where Buddhism and neuroscience converge. Columbia University Press, 2007. Britton, W. B., Brown, A. C., Kaplan, C. T., Goldman, R. E., DeLuca, M., Rojiani, R., … & Frank, T. (2013). Contemplative science: an insider prospectus. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2013(134), 13-29.
- 41.
Both moral and (objectively) factual features presumably.
- 42.
See Chap. 6 for a discussion on how we might proactively shape society through various embedding structures which generate pro-social behavior.
- 43.
This view is also highlighted by researchers who study the effect of meditation practices, although the “dose”, e.g. the time spent meditating varies a lot, and is subject to continuous research. Vøllestad, J., Sivertsen, B., & Nielsen, G. H. (2011). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for patients with anxiety disorders: Evaluation in a randomized controlled trial. Behaviour research and therapy, 49(4), 281–288. Boettcher, J., Åström, V., Påhlsson, D., Schenström, O., Andersson, G., & Carlbring, P. (2014). Internet-based mindfulness treatment for anxiety disorders: A randomized controlled trial. Behavior therapy, 45(2), 241–253.
- 44.
Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). Immunity to change: How to overcome it and unlock potential in yourself and your organization. Harvard Business Press. Kegan, R (1994). In over our heads: the mental demands of modern life. Harvard University Press.
- 45.
We also want to add a developmental aspect, in that the oscillations in the different states have the potential to a continuing improvement and refinement of the warranted capacities.
- 46.
- 47.
Heinrichs, M. et al. (2009) Oxytocin, vasopressin, and human social behavior. Front. Neuroendocrinol. 30, 548–557. Macdonald, K. and Macdonald, T.M. (2010) The peptide that binds: a systematic review of oxytocin and its prosocial effects in humans. Harv. Rev. Psychiatry 18, 1–21. Earp, B. D., Wudarczyk, O. A., Sandberg, A., & Savulescu, J. (2013). If I could just stop loving you: Anti-love biotechnology and the ethics of a chemical breakup. The American Journal of Bioethics, 13(11), 3–17.
- 48.
Indeed, some such technologies might be less futuristic than one might think. In the last decade alone there have been significant breakthroughs in so called BMI (brain machine interface) technologies. Lebedev, M. A., & Nicolelis, M. A. (2006). Brain–machine interfaces: past, present and future. TRENDS in Neurosciences, 29(9), 536–546. Vidal, J. J. (1973). Toward direct brain-computer communication. Annual review of Biophysics and Bioengineering, 2(1), 157–180. Clausen, J. 2010. Ethical brain stimulation- neuroethics of deep brain stimulation in research and clinical practice. European Journal of Neuroscience 32: 1152–1162. Bell, E., G. Mathieu, and E. Racine. 2009. Preparing the ethical future of deep brain stimulation. Surgical Neurology 72: 577–586. Glannon, W. 2009. Stimulating brains, altering minds. Journal of Medical Ethics 35: 289–292. Very generally speaking, these are techniques which enable researchers to connect machines to the human nervous system. Nair, P. (2013). Brain–machine interface. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(46), 18343–18343. The machines are then used to stimulate the brain and already today BMIs are used to treat deafness, Parkinson’s disease and depression. Berger F. et al. (2008) Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of Brain-Implants Using Nano-Scale Materials and Techniques, NanoEthics. 2,3, 241–249. E.C. Leuthardt et al., “Using the electrocorticographic speech network to control a brain-computer interface in humans,” J Neural Eng, 8:036004, 2011. Collinger, J. L., Kryger, M. A., Barbara, R., Betler, T., Bowsher, K., Brown, E. H., … & Boninger, M. L. (2014). Collaborative Approach in the Development of High‐Performance Brain–Computer Interfaces for a Neuroprosthetic Arm: Translation from Animal Models to Human Control. Clinical and translational science, 7(1), 52–59. Iuculano, T., & Kadosh, R. C. (2013). The mental cost of cognitive enhancement. The Journal of Neuroscience, 33(10), 4482–4486. Kadosh, R. C., Levy, N., O'Shea, J., Shea, N., & Savulescu, J. (2012). The neuroethics of non-invasive brain stimulation. Current Biology, 22(4), R108-R111.
- 49.
- 50.
At present two of the major challenges are (a) that the effects in the normally functioning brain i.e. non therapeutic use, of the pharmaceutical drugs tend to have a comparatively small effect and (b) that the pharmaceutical drugs only affect single cognitive capacities/cognitive functions i.e. not overall intelligence. For more on this, please see Chap. 3.
- 51.
Positive effects which are more short-term are identified in studies focusing on the relationship between diet, brain capacity (e.g. attention- and process-memory) and performance. For links between cognitive capacity and glucose, creatine and amino acids (for example) see Fox, P.T., Raichle, M.E. et al. (1988). Nonoxidative glucose consumption during focal physiologic neural activity. Science, 241(4864), 462–4; McMorris, T., Harris, R.C. et al. (2006). Effect of creatine supplementation and sleep deprivation, with mild exercise, on cognitive and psychomotor performance, mood state, and plasma concentrations of catecholamines and cortisol. Psychopharmacology, 185(1), 93–103.
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Luchtman, D. W., & Song, C. (2013). Cognitive enhancement by omega-3 fatty acids from child-hood to old age: findings from animal and clinical studies. Neuropharmacology, 64, 550–565.
- 53.
Tolppanen, A. M., Solomon, A., Kulmala, J., Kåreholt, I., Ngandu, T., Rusanen, M., … & Kivipelto, M. (2014). Leisure-time physical activity from mid-to late life, body mass index, and risk of dementia. Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
- 54.
Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66.
- 55.
Spence, E.H. (2012), “Virtual rape, real dignity: meta-ethics for virtual worlds”, The Philosophy of Computer Games, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 125–142. Sicart, M. (2009), The Ethics of Computer Games, MIT Press. De Decker, E., De Craemer, M., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., Wijndaele, K., Duvinage, K., Koletzko, B. and Cardon, G. (2012), “Influencing factors of screen time in preschool children: an exploration of parents’ perceptions through focus groups in six European countries”, Obesity Reviews, Vol. 13, pp. 75–84.
- 56.
For a longer discussion on the potential for combinations of the various methods please see Fröding, B. (2013). Virtue ethics and human enhancement. Springer. Especially in chapter 7.
- 57.
See e.g. Zimbardo P. (2007) The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Random House.
- 58.
Price is a big concern when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs and technology. The worry is that it would create even greater imbalance between the haves and the have not’s. The counter argument is that everyone would be better off if some people (in decision-making positions presumably) would improve their cognitive capacities.
- 59.
Note that the capacity we are primarily interested in is cognitive flexibility and how that can be conducive to epistemic virtue. In other words we are not looking at a general increase of IQ and what may be the effects of such changes. However, we have identified one study where relational frame training (which is the theoretical basis for Acceptance and commitment therapy) seem to increase the IQ of the participating students. Cassidy, S., Roche, B. & Hayes, S. C. (2011). A relational frame training intervention to raise Intelligence Quotients: A pilot study. The Psychological Record, 61, 173–198.
- 60.
Barring people with mental issues as pointed out above in Sect. 1.5.2.
- 61.
Bell, S. K., Lucke, J. C. and Hall, W. D. (2012). Lessons for enhancement from the history of cocaine and amphetamine use. AJOB Neuroscience, 3(2): 24–29. Mohamed, A. D., & Sahakian, B. J. (2012). The ethics of elective psychopharmacology. The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 15(04), 559–571. Scoriels, L., Barnett, J. H., Murray, G. K., Cherukuru, S., Fielding, M., Cheng, F., … & Jones, P. B. (2011). Effects of modafinil on emotional processing in first episode psychosis. Biological psychiatry, 69(5), 457–464.
- 62.
For some problems attaching to the Precautionary Principle see Sandin, P., Peterson, M., Hansson, S. O., Rudén, C., & Juthe, A. (2002). Five charges against the precautionary principle. Journal of Risk Research, 5(4), 287–299.
- 63.
Franklin, M. S., Mrazek, M. D., Anderson, C. L., Smallwood, J., Kingstone, A., & Schooler, J. W. (2013). The silver lining of a mind in the clouds: interesting musings are associated with positive mood while mind-wandering. Frontiers in psychology, 4.
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Flook, Lisa; Goldberg, Simon B.; Pinger, Laura; Davidson, Richard J. Promoting Prosocial Behavior and Self-Regulatory Skills in Preschool Children Through a Mindfulness-Based Kindness Curriculum. Developmental Psychology, Nov 10, 2014.
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Fröding, B., Osika, W. (2015). Introduction. In: Neuroenhancement: how mental training and meditation can promote epistemic virtue.. SpringerBriefs in Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23517-2_1
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