Neuroscience and Karma

Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 91

S3
Knowing, Learning, Memory, Intelligence
Scientific Epistemology 1. Knowledge in the Brain
Can the brain be said to contain knowledge ? Do we know a given fact all the time or only wben asked about it? The concept of memoryrecords in the brain helps us to reconcile diverse uses of the concept of knowing', such as -- 'knowing that' and knowing how'. Just as knowledge can be recorded in books or in computers, so knowledge of different sorts is encoued in the brain all the time. We shall now try to find out how it is written there and how the record is consulted when we think.
(a) Thinking
Is thinking only a form of problem-solving ? Actually it covers all forms of consciousness, awareness, with and without perception. Without perception, it is an interal questioning process i.e. testing hypotheses. If the store of information that we call knowledge is in the brain, then thinking involves the process by which some items are temporarily called from the store and used to solve a problem, perhaps only the simple one of identifying what is being beard -- a telepbonc bell or an alarm clock? (b) Daily Run of Thoughts
Throughout the day, we think a series of thoughts, one at a time. They may be aroused by stimulation from outside or by the internal operations of the brain. The tboughts that are thus called up may be visual or auditory or perbaps of a smell, taste or touch. They need not be verbal, though often they are. So a succession of thoughts follow a program, that is recorded in our brain as a combined product of heredity, karman, the custom of our tribe and our individual experience. Thus, all the thinking depends upon the organization and activity of materials stored in the brain. Without a brain, tbere is no thought. It is easy to conclude that the natural programs for thinking are those that run every day to promote one's life in his culture. He will, of course, use the methods, verbal and otherwise, that have been learned by virtue of inheritance of human capabilities and the environment. As stated earlier, the versatility of such