Brain and Culture

The intention of this article is to summon up novel thinking about the concept of Learning-Disabilities by scrutinizing the historical and social context in which it is embedded. The first part of the article presents the theoretical underpinnings of the sociological and cultural discourse on the field of disabilities, and reveals the obscurity that surrounds the concept of learning-disabilities through a short historical presentation of the evolution of the discourse and the various critiques that developed from it. In the second part, the researcher examines the definitions accepted in the Israeli disabilities discourse in comparison to that discourse in other countries. In contrast to the united front that the local field presents, it becomes apparent that the global discourse is heterogeneous and is characterized by a variety of opinions and disagreements. In the third part, the researcher examines one idiom which forms the basis for the Israeli disabilities discourse: the etiological one that deals with the connections between the disability and its neurological source. Through a discourse analysis of major texts of the Israeli disabilities field and of interviews with professionals, it becomes clear how central assertions were shaped into "medical and scientific facts", even when their scientific foundations were quite shaky.

This article explores a possible conflict between the practical and ethical implications of scientific and religious discourses about human nature proposed in the sci-fi series "Altered Carbon". It discusses the clash between biopolitically implemented technology and religious life. The scientific discourse is represented by the "ideology of the cer-ebral subject" (F. Vidal, F. Ortega), which establishes the connection between the brain and the self. A brief examination of examples of the representation of this ideology in science fiction and its general logic follows. The final development of neuroscience in this series is the technology of uploading the self onto a digital medium, which makes it possible to achieve a quasi-immortal state by changing bodies. This technology, biopolitically appropriated and introduced into individual lives by the state, conflicts with the religious life of Neo-Catholics who refuse to transfer their selves into another body after their bodily deaths. Thus, the field of collision between the interference of science inspired biopower into the life of the individual and his or her religious life is marked by the coordinates of life and death. The article discusses this fundamental collision, its biopolitical background, and its implications.

Статья посвящена исследованию предлагаемого научно-фантастическим сериалом «Видоизмененный углерод» кейса возможного конфликта между практическими и этическими импликациями научного и религиозного дискурсов о природе человека. В частности, речь идет о столкновении биополитически присвоенной и внедренной технологии и религиозной жизни. Научный дискурс представлен «идеологией церебрального субъекта» (Ф. Видаль, Ф. Ортега), устанавливающей связь между мозгом и личностью. Кратко разбираются примеры воплощения этой идеологии в научной фантастике и ее общая логика. «Логичным итогом» в данном случае является технология загрузки сознания на цифровой носитель, позволяющая отвязать смерть индивида от телесной смерти и добиться квазибессмертия путем смены тел. Эта технология, биополитически присвоенная и внедренная государством, вступает в конфликт с религиозной жизнью неокатоликов, отказывающихся переносить сознание после телесной смерти в другое тело. Таким образом, поле столкновения вмешательства сциентизированной биовласти в жизнь индивида и его религиозной жизни размечается координатами жизни и смерти. В статье рассмотрена механика столкновения, его биополитическая подоплека и импликации.

Despite the growing progress of human knowledge about the neuro-cultural bases of human learning and development, its potential applications and implications for curriculum theory and practice have not been adequately investigated. In this regard, after providing a review on the research findings in the field of cultural neuroscience of learning and development, the insights and messages of these findings for school curriculum are examined through an integrated review method. The recent studies suggest that the brain continually adapts itself to the cultural environment and changes its structure and function depending on experience. According to these studies, neural and behavioral variations among cultures are due to unique interaction of genetic factors and physiological and cultural factors. The recent findings in the field of brain and culture also suggest that cultural experience play a significant role in the formation and development of brain mechanisms underlying cognition. Emotional development is also dramatically affected by the quality of the cultural context. These documents support an innitative approach to curriculum which has known as Cultuarlly Responsive curriculum. According to this approach, respecting different worldviews of teachers and students from different cultural contexts should be the focus of the school curriculum. Educational planners and policy makers must not only accept the existence of multiple cultures, but also respect the cultural diversity and provide opportunities for all individuals within different cultures to take part in the improvement of their own and others cultural understand.

Cuprins: Războiul nevăzut din societatea spectacolului | Câteva provocări ale societăţii de consum | Inteligenţele multiple și inteligenţa spirituală - câteva indicii despre complexitatea și adâncimile fiinţei umane | Inteligenţa spirituală - câteva menţiuni pentru o evaluare teologică | Viaţa interioară - câteva indicii neurale și fiziologice | Neuroștiinţele dovedesc valoarea iubirii materne | Sugarii au capacităţi uimitoare de a distinge binele de rău | Atașamentul părinţilor și dezvoltarea copilului | Legătura dintre sănătate și spiritualitate, evidenţiată de știinţă | Suferinţele umanităţii însingurate | De la competiţie la comuniune | Compasiunea - virtutea care ne face din nou oameni | Pătimirile lui Hristos și compasiunea interumană | Câteva practici mintale și efectele lor | Tehnici mintale cu rol terapeutic | Practici mintale cu rol terapeutic și viaţa spirituală creștin-ortodoxă. Două consideraţii critice | Vagabondajul minţii. Un posibil loc de întâlnire pentru cercetările neuroștiinţelor și observaţiile practice ale spiritualităţii | Schimbarea minţii pentru o schimbare autentică a vieţii. Perspective filocalice | Meditaţie budistă și meditaţie creștină: câteva deosebiri esenţiale | Practici spirituale non-creștine: schiţă pentru o receptare apologetică | De la cultivarea virtuţilor la jertfa supremă. Câteva observaţii despre o distincţie esenţială a spiritualităţii creștin-ortodoxe | Bunăstarea materială pe cântarul spiritului | Drumul întristării fericite către bucuria adevărată | Viaţa interioară sub asediul cuvintelor | Fericire deplină fără înviere? | Cum poate omul să se nască din nou, bătrân fiind? | Bătrâneţile întineresc zilnic | Cuantificare a eului sau viaţă lăuntrică? | Libertate şi condiţionare genetică în persoana umană | Plasticitatea fiinţei | Explorarea spaţiului lăuntric - o situaţie știinţifică precară | Viaţa lăuntrică în era informaţiei | Nașterea omului prin cuvânt | Instrumentele sufletului omenesc | De la cunoaștere la viaţa deplină