Meditation & Science

Question 1

How do our assumptions determine how we study the brain”?

Answer 1

1. • There is a mind → study subjectiveexperience2. • There is only body → study the brain &behaviourDo we just study the brain, or can we study the mind?Is studying the body sufficient? By itself?Is studying the body necessary?Can introspection be used with reliability and validity?

Question 2

What do we need to “rule out” when studying meditation?

Answer 2

It’s not just relaxation, so we need to use a control groupPlacebo effect is powerful, maybe it’s not meditation that’s working but just people thinking that it is workingMake sure it’s not just the commitment to doing something for your life that makes you feel.Changes in lifestyle that coincide with meditation, we need to make sure it’s the meditation itself that’s workingMake sure it’s not just us reporting pleasing resorts to please our doctor or researcher.mistaken memories, we need an objective recordSelf-fulfilling prophecyProblem of attrition. Some will start, and then people will drop out, leaving us with a biased sample, maybe it’s personality that causes the positive changesBe aware of pseudo scientific claimsRule out apophenia, meaning: our tendency as a species to find meaning where there is none. Were really awesome at this. Seeing patterns where there are none.

Question 3

Is there a mind? &, Why ask this question?

Answer 3

Because meditation involves mind!Answer 1, parallelism (mind and body exist, but they do not interact) and Cartesian dualism (they exist separately and do interact), they are separate, body and mindAnswer 2, kind of, mind is a shadow. But it’s just a phenomenon of the neurons of the brainAnswer 3, no, quaila (subjective inner experience) does not exist

Question 4

According to “A defense of dualism,” What are the two taboos of science

Answer 4

Studying subjectivity, and allowing subjectivity to cloud dataIntrospection or 1st person observations does BOTH! Doubly taboo

Question 5

In A Defense of Dualism, What are the 3 arguments against introspectionism?

Answer 5

science requires the separation of subject and object.but he thinks they should be understood relationally, that this separation is a false dichotomy, a faulty way of thinking about things.next, mental events are unconscious and are therefore not available to introspection, from perspective of western study, they are not known to us.i can’t see what is beyond a black box because a black box occluded my vision, I can’t use my unconscious mind to probe the unconscious.next, not clear how causality works, if everything is just the brain, how can you explain my inner experiences

Question 6

In A Defense of Dualism, What are the 3 scientific criticisms against introspectionism?

Answer 6

.when you ask someone to introspect, this biases their observations, the very act.reply, ok well that’s true of everything, western science makes claims based on the theories that we have.next, historically, it just didn’t work. Artificial, contrived.next, introspection, experience is always different, fails the test of replication, you can’t replicate results someone else comes up with.reply, the methods we use are just too simplistic

Question 7

Summary of A rebuttal from Steven Novella

Answer 7

1. Wallace argues that consciousness does not come from the brain. Why wrong?.wallace appeals to ESP and clairvoyance which has been studied and dismissed, been disproven. He also argues saying look monks has experienced this. Dude2. Wallace argues that to study consciousness we need introspection. why is he wrong?.supernatural outside realm of science. Doesn’t investigate capital T truth. 3. Wallace argues that quantum mechanics supports his view. Why is he wrong?.quantum weirdness only exists at the… Quantum level. That’s it.

Question 8

Using the example of Joe the pedophile, how does brain damage affect behavior and the mind?

Answer 8

Joe, normal guy, got divorced, remarried, nice wife with small children, everything is fineOne day, his wife sees kiddie porn on his laptop, police show up, removes himStarts complaining of headaches, and joe faints, has a brain tumourTake it out, mysteriously, all feelings of pedophilia are goneFeelings back, he says hey I think the tumour is back they don’t believe himThey check, and it turns out some of it grew back!!Why do people with temporal lobe epilepsy have such religious experiences? They stimulate this area in the operating room, and people have spiritual experiences

Question 9

What is meditative inquiry?

Answer 9

How meditators studyTaming the mindIntrospectionLogicPredictions?

Question 10

How does it work? Meditative inquiry?

Answer 10

Guide/teacherPredictionObservationsSignsAnalyze & interpretSensory experience vs. contemplative experiences (do you feel your life has changed?)External vs internal signsHappier, clearer mind, internal signsExternal signs, other people can notice, nicer, less egotistical, less irritable, less busy or less rushed

Question 11

On what assumption does meditative inquiry work?

Answer 11

Introspection is OK

Question 12

Does meditative inquiry “work?”

Answer 12

East: Yes, for 1000s yearsWest: Questionable,Blaine says, look to people who have meditated for long periods of time, there is just something special about these people he says

Question 13

What is “scientific inquiry?”

Answer 13

the diverse ways in whichscientists study the natural world andpropose explanations based on theevidence derived from their work.

Question 14

What are the steps involved in scientific inquiry?

Answer 14

Theory–Prediction–Pbservations–Data–Analyze & Interpret–> back to theory, a cycle

Question 15

What are the assumptions of scientific inquiry?

Answer 15

Logical empiricism: meaningful statements re reducible to empirical observations & mathematical logicKarl Popper & falsifiabilityHow can you ever really prove something is actually true?Claim there are only white swans, but what there could be a swan somewhere in the universe that is neon green, so we search for falsificationThe Hypothetico-Deductive MethodDescription of our scientific methodStart off with a theory, test a falsifiable hypothesis, the test of it comes from observation, and test that runs contrary to your hypothesis …

Question 16

What does meditative inquiry and scientific inquiry have in common?

Answer 16

-Logic-Predictions-Evidence–Both when practiced, require evidence. Don’t believe what I say, test for yourself

Question 17

What are the differences between meditative inquiry and scientific inquiry?

Answer 17

Primary purpose (to know vs. to help)Role of introspectionFalsifiability

Question 18

What methods are currently being used to study meditation scientifically?

Answer 18

• Neuroimaging (e.g., PET, MRI, fMRI)• Electrical activity (e.g., EEG, ERP)• Immune system• Cardiovascular system• Self-report questionnaires

Question 19

What is introspection?

Answer 19

“the examination of one’sown conscious thoughts and feelings.”• Privileged access• Important part of meditation

Question 20

What is structuralism and how has it been rejected?

Answer 20

Trained introspectionConscious experience is only a small part if your minds vast majority of your brain is unconscious and cannot be directly observedSubject pool is limited if you have to train people, can only deal with fully functioning healthy adults, maybe biases your studyDiscrepancies, people can give very diff answers on the same thing”Retrospection” not “introspection”You’re using your memory…

Question 21

What is Behaviorism? Why might it be poor for studying meditation?

Answer 21

Study behavior only, dude, not thoughtPeople not trained to observe, they are observedPsychologist not subject is expertCannot get any first person reports, no talking

Question 22

How has cognitive psychology reconciled meditation and scientific study of it?

Answer 22

Denies dualismVerbal reports can be testable and verifiableDoes not deny a role for introspectionSubjects have some authority but not total authorityLook for converging results, this methodology has served us wellE.g. Mental rotation in mind, E.g. Correlations between schizophrenics with auditory hallucinations and button presses. The presses correlated with changes in temporal lobe… InterestingE.g. Think aloud protocols, solve a puzzle while talking out loudE.g. Autobiographical memoryGot people in two days after 9/11 happened, where were you, who told you, what were you doing, then compare answers to same questions a year later

Question 23

From The Quantum and the Lotus, how do both parties agree on “emptiness?”

Answer 23

Buddhists perspective, everything is empty. Scientist agrees. It’s like there is not matter at a very small level. An electron, kind of matter kind of not, kind of localized, kinda not, kinda energy, kinda not.Two divergent methodologies converging on the same answer, maybe were on to something

Question 24

From the Quantum and the Lotus, is science innately moral?

Answer 24

Brilliant scientists does not mean they are moral. Science is not innately moral. No connection between these.Great minds. They won a Nobel prize. They also supported the nazis. Jason division, scientists working on horrible horrible weapons.Technology by itself is neutral. Science is fine, but it’s not enough. Needs something more. A contemplative approach.

Question 25

What are the future directions in mindfulness research that Garland and Gaylord outline?

Answer 25

1. performance based measures of mindfulness.operationalization of constructs important!.mindfulness scales need to be improved, still too susceptible to validity threats.maybe ability of experiences meditators to be aware of own heartbeat for example, awareness of subtle physiological or cognitive processes.or measures of equanimity in response to laboratory pressures2. scientific evaluation of Buddhist claims.how do we tap into the idea of realization of no permanence of self, all objects devoid of independent identity, and that all phenomena arise from an independent cooriginating field.can we test these realizations objectively? will people respond lessto their own name if they have them?3. neurophenomenology of mindfulness.study structural features of states of concsiousness induced by mindfulness.combine first person reports with neuroimaging reports.also relying on experienced meditators fine-grained distinctions of mental experience4. finally, measuring changes in mindfulness induced gene expression.it affects the expression of genes motherfucker, but I don’t get this stuff very well.how it affects epigenetics