14AR19-10

Apologia Report 19:10 (1,193)

April 2, 2014

Subject: Is cruelty rooted in biology?

In this issue:

ETHICS - scientist acknowledges our "innate moral sense," but concludes that its origins must be biological

YOGA - former instructor warns of its eastern mystical base

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PLEASE NOTE: Our office will be closed next week as we attend the annual EMNR conference <www.ow.ly/uIXpV>. Look for AR to resume the week of April 13.

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ETHICS

Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil, by Paul Bloom [1] -- reviewer Simon Baron-Cohen opens: "Is morality innate? In his new book ... psychologist Paul Bloom <www.ow.ly/vjCWr> draws from his research at the Yale Infant Cognition Center <www.ow.ly/vjD1S> to argue that 'certain moral foundations are not acquired through learning. ... They are instead the products of biological evolution.' ...

"Bloom has found that infants as young as 3 months old reach for and prefer looking at a 'helper' rather than a 'hinderer,' which he interprets as evidence of moral sense, that babies are 'drawn to the nice guy and repelled by the mean guy.' He may be right, but he hasn't proved innateness.

"Proving innateness requires much harder evidence -- that the behavior has existed from Day 1, say, or that it has a clear genetic basis. Bloom presents no such evidence. His approach to establishing innateness is to argue from universalism: If a behavior occurs across cultures, then surely it can't be the result of culture. ...

"Another tack Bloom takes is to examine the universality of strong moral emotions.... The fact that we see these strong emotions in children as much as in adults may well fit his fascinating thesis that they are intrinsic, not learned. ...

"Bloom devotes considerable space in the book to analyzing the cost-benefit approaches to moral judgments, but devotes far less space to understanding the empathizing route.

"But to the extent that we have an innate moral sense, he concludes, humans are not prisoners of it. We can use our capacity for reason to override our emotions, our inclinations toward racism or revenge."

Baron-Cohen concludes: "The sobering message for me is that our abhorrent, corrosive emotions like racism or revenge will inevitably resurface, so we will always need to be on guard." New York Times Book Review, Dec 29 '13, p15. <www.ow.ly/vak19>

Baron-Cohen <www.ow.ly/vjD9x> is also the author of The Science of Evil [2] of which Publishers Weekly (May 2 '11, n.p.) observes: "A leading British researcher of psychology and autism at Cambridge University, Baron-Cohen ... brings a fresh perspective to deciphering the enigma known as 'evil' ... that replaces the term 'evil' with a concept he finds more useful: empathy, and its erosion. He examines how empathy is measured empirically, on both social and neurological scales [and] argues for a new psychiatric category called 'empathy disorder' and underscores empathy's tremendous power - from a social perspective - as 'a universal solvent.'"

Kirkus (Apr 1 '11, n.p.) adds that Baron-Cohen "makes a point to declare his book an attempt to 'restimulate discussion on the causes of evil by moving the debate out of the realm of religion and into the realm of science.' Biological and psychological factors, not religious belief, he argues, determine cruel behavior." [3]

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YOGA

"Stretching the Truth About Yoga" by Mike Shreve <www.ow.ly/vjDdo > -- "The word yoga means 'yoke or union.' It speaks of being yoked with God or in union with God. ...

"The deeper levels of its practice and the religious doctrine that forms its base can be detrimental to followers of Christ....

"Before I became a Christian in the fall of 1970, I taught kundalini yoga at four universities in Florida. ... I studied personally under a guru named Yogi Bhajan <www.ow.ly/vjDhh> and ran a yoga ashram (a commune where yoga devotees apply themselves more intensely to its practice). ...

"Yoga is based on a Far Eastern view of both the physical and spiritual aspects of a human being ... specifically created to supposedly 'open up the chakras.'

"According to yogic lore, seven 'chakras,' or spiritual energy centers, exist in the body. ...

"Adherents believe something called the kundalini (the latent 'serpent power' supposedly coiled at the base of the spine) rises up through the chakras especially during deep meditation. This 'awakening of the kundalini' is considered essential in bringing a person to 'God consciousness.' Each chakra is also associated with a certain Hindu deity. These deities are all mythical beings, full of humanlike frailties and faults.

"A yoga practitioner is believed to be able to exit his body through these chakras, especially the third eye or the crown chakra, and experience higher, spiritual realms. Yoga allegedly prepares one for these kinds of experiences. ...

"If the out-of-body experiences tied to yoga were legitimate, leading a person to a real relationship with God, there would be no problem. However, I discovered the opposite to be true. ... "Most yoga advocates embrace a pantheistic view of the universe and its relationship to God. In pantheism, which is an idea that dominates Hinduism, the universe is an emanation of God. Because God veils Itself in the appearance of physical matter, it is taught there is a spark of divine nature within everything and everyone. So, to find God, you look within. ...

"The 'serpent power' unleashed in meditation is not the power of the Holy Spirit, nor is it merely the latent power of the soul. It is a power even gurus admit can be very destructive to the yoga practitioner. ...

"Belief in this power is at the root of the yogic system of thought. ...

"Though I was unaware of it at the time, when I studied yoga, I came under the influence of a counterfeit spiritual power that was not the true power of God. This passed to me from the guru under whom I studied. (Actually, many yoga devotees often seek this transference of supernatural power from various gurus and swamis with fervency, thinking it is a faster means of attaining higher levels of consciousness.) ...

"Some [people studying yoga] are striving for no more than just to shape up their bodies. Because of this, in some cases it is possible to go to a yoga class and never be introduced to any kind of false spiritual power....

"However, if the teacher of the class is involved in the philosophy behind the entire yogic system, there will be a subliminal spiritual transference from the teacher to the student that is likely not the true Spirit of God and can be very misleading. ...

"[I]n order to be a certified yoga teacher by the standards of that industry, a teacher must spend a certain number of hours studying Vedic philosophy and the teachings of certain yoga masters from the East." Charisma, Jan '14, pp57-63. <www.ow.ly/vbQvv>

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil, by Paul Bloom (Crown, 2013, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.ow.ly/vajGo>

2 - The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty, by Simon Baron-Cohen (Basic, 2012, paperback, 272 pages)<www.ow.ly/vakib>

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