"The impact of Sperry's philosophy, similar to that of his scientific discoveries previously, has now transcended the boundaries of science and reaches into human awareness worldwide. Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, for instance, is deeply impressed by, and actively promotes, Sperry's work — He fully recognizes the significance of the neuroscientist's theory of emergence and downward causation, which transcends dualism and reductionism, leads in an unbroken continuum from atoms to subjective experience, and describes each newly emergent phenomenon in the universe as an entity in its own right with laws and properties that never before existed. Such new emergents (which disappear in reductionist thinking) affect everything else on earth, including the elements that created them (downward causation) but most importantly the future quality of evolution. Values, thus — as emergents of brain function — are recognized as the most powerful determinants on earth, even in the world of science."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesPsychologists from the United StatesCognitive scientistsBiologists from the United StatesNeuroscientists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Editorial introduction to the special tribute issue of Humankind Advancing, Vol.5, No.1 (21 January 1994)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Roger Wolcott Sperry
Roger Wolcott Sperry (20 August 1913 – 17 April 1994) was a neuropsychologist, neurobiologist and pioneer in the sciences of consciousness who, together with David H. Hubel and Torsten Wiesel, won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Medicine, for his independent work in split-brain research.
32 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Roger Wolcott Sperry →
Related Quotes
"The cells and fibers of the brain must carry some kind of individual identification tags, presumably cytochemical in …"
"Prior to the advent of brain, there was no color and no sound in the universe, nor was there any flavor or aroma and …"
"There probably is no more important quest in all science than the attempt to understand those very particular events …"
"Any model or description that leaves out conscious forces ... is bound to be sadly incomplete and unsatisfactory ... …"
"Futurists and common sense concur that a substantial change, worldwide, in life-style and moral guidelines will soon …"
"It is mutual fear and distrust that mostly generate world tensions and these can be traced in no small measure, like …"
"To see a promising solution to a dilemma and then just leave it to questionable development at its own pace without t…"
"The time has passed when nations should be allowed to do as they individually wish with regard to global matters, eac…"
"The centermost processes of the brain with which consciousness is presumably associated are simply not understood. Th…"
"It seems important that the social value factor be more generally recognized as a powerful causal agent in its own ri…"