96 min listen
37. Dr Douglas Fields - On ‘Why We Snap‘ and our neural wiring for Violence
37. Dr Douglas Fields - On ‘Why We Snap‘ and our neural wiring for Violence
ratings:
Length:
93 minutes
Released:
Nov 15, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Today, I spoke with Dr Douglas Fields, who is a neuroscientist and author of numerous books and articles about the brain. We discussed his excellent and important book, Why We Snap: Understanding the Rage Circuit in Your Brain, which focuses on the neuroscience that triggers rage and violence. It turns out, evolution has endowed every single one of us with nine neural pathways that, when activated, will lead to a violent and oftentimes involuntary and non-conscious response. During our chat, Doug explained these circuits—captured in the mnemonic LIFEMORTS—and how they relate to many important issues, including: their applicability to our interpersonal relationships; origins in threat detection; their unconscious nature and subsequent voluntary expression; impact of social media and technology; disproportionate effect of stress; power of genes and the environment; manifestations of violence in different genders; utility in peacebuilding; training of responses; role in PTSD and, perhaps most-importantly, geopolitics and war.
Several previous episodes that link to the topics we discussed include:
Role of the environment:
Gregg D. Caruso - On the Illusion of Free Will, Myth of Meritocracy and the need to rethink our Justice Systems
Arjan Verdooren - ‘Cultures don‘t meet, people do‘
LTCOL Dave Grossman - On killing, combat, sleep, ‘blind spots’ and everything else in between
Geopolitics:
John Blaxland and Qinduo Xu - On AUKUS, US/China relations and growing tensions
Hasan Aygun - The Pragmatic Diplomat
PTSD and trauma
Tom and Jen Satterly - The All Secure Foundation
Steve Dennis - On getting shot, kidnapped and the court case that sent tremors through the humanitarian aid industry
Will Yates and Joe McCleary - On Trial for War Crimes: A Soldier’s Experience
Ashley Judd – On combat, mental health and the road to recovery
I also mentioned an article I recently published on the state of Western democracy, grey zone warfare by authoritarian states and how social media is contributing to a build-up of tension in our societies. You can view the article here.
----
Full show notes:
My guest today is Dr Douglas Fields, who is a neuroscientist and author of numerous books and articles about the brain. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, University of Maryland adjunct professor, and Chief of the Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section at the National Institutes of Health. He received advanced degrees at UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, UC San Diego, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford and Yale University.
He writes about science for Scientific American, Quanta, Outside Magazine, Huffington Post, Undark Magazine, Psychology Today, and similar prestigious outlets. His neuroscience research has been featured on national television, radio, NPR, the National Geographic and others, and he speaks about neuroscience for the general public on mediums like NPR, World Science Festival, TEDex and Google Talks.
He is the author of three books about neuroscience for the general reader, The Other Brain, about glia, which are brain cells that communicate without electricity, Why We Snap, about the neuroscience of rage, and his new award-winning book, Electric Brain, about brainwaves, brain-computer interface, and brain stimulation. Some of the topics we discussed today include:
Doug’s personal experience with sudden aggression
Evolutionary reason why we need triggers for sudden aggression
Unconscious nature of this mechanism
Explanation of LIFEMORTS
Voluntary expression of unconscious mechanisms
Our volition and culpability for violence
Impact of social media and technology
Disproportionate effect and impact of stress
Link between violence and gender
The ‘lizard brain’ debunked
LIFEMORTS in geopolitics
The role and impact of stress
Utility of LIFEMORTS in peacebuilding
Training the conscious and unconscious responses
Impact of genes and environment
Role
Several previous episodes that link to the topics we discussed include:
Role of the environment:
Gregg D. Caruso - On the Illusion of Free Will, Myth of Meritocracy and the need to rethink our Justice Systems
Arjan Verdooren - ‘Cultures don‘t meet, people do‘
LTCOL Dave Grossman - On killing, combat, sleep, ‘blind spots’ and everything else in between
Geopolitics:
John Blaxland and Qinduo Xu - On AUKUS, US/China relations and growing tensions
Hasan Aygun - The Pragmatic Diplomat
PTSD and trauma
Tom and Jen Satterly - The All Secure Foundation
Steve Dennis - On getting shot, kidnapped and the court case that sent tremors through the humanitarian aid industry
Will Yates and Joe McCleary - On Trial for War Crimes: A Soldier’s Experience
Ashley Judd – On combat, mental health and the road to recovery
I also mentioned an article I recently published on the state of Western democracy, grey zone warfare by authoritarian states and how social media is contributing to a build-up of tension in our societies. You can view the article here.
----
Full show notes:
My guest today is Dr Douglas Fields, who is a neuroscientist and author of numerous books and articles about the brain. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, University of Maryland adjunct professor, and Chief of the Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section at the National Institutes of Health. He received advanced degrees at UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, UC San Diego, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford and Yale University.
He writes about science for Scientific American, Quanta, Outside Magazine, Huffington Post, Undark Magazine, Psychology Today, and similar prestigious outlets. His neuroscience research has been featured on national television, radio, NPR, the National Geographic and others, and he speaks about neuroscience for the general public on mediums like NPR, World Science Festival, TEDex and Google Talks.
He is the author of three books about neuroscience for the general reader, The Other Brain, about glia, which are brain cells that communicate without electricity, Why We Snap, about the neuroscience of rage, and his new award-winning book, Electric Brain, about brainwaves, brain-computer interface, and brain stimulation. Some of the topics we discussed today include:
Doug’s personal experience with sudden aggression
Evolutionary reason why we need triggers for sudden aggression
Unconscious nature of this mechanism
Explanation of LIFEMORTS
Voluntary expression of unconscious mechanisms
Our volition and culpability for violence
Impact of social media and technology
Disproportionate effect and impact of stress
Link between violence and gender
The ‘lizard brain’ debunked
LIFEMORTS in geopolitics
The role and impact of stress
Utility of LIFEMORTS in peacebuilding
Training the conscious and unconscious responses
Impact of genes and environment
Role
Released:
Nov 15, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Dr Mike Martin - a Soldier-Philosopher: Today I’m speaking with Dr Mike Martin, a former British Army Officer who has since become a prominent speaker and writer on conflict, particularly its causes. Mike has published several books on the subject, including ‘An Intimate War: An Oral History o... by The Voices of War