Know Thyself:
Why do we act the way we do?
1. Immediate Urges: hunger, security, mating, …
2. Moods: depressed, hyper, worry, …
3. Emotions: hot, happy, …
4. Thoughts: recognition, nobility, honor, …

What does cognitive sciences tell us about all of these?
• Can be explained, understood, and visualized in terms of patterns of neural activity or specialized regions in the brain.
• Where do these neurons, these brain blobs come from?
i. Genes (effect on proteins, neurons, neural nets)
ii. Experience (brain plasticity)

Are we like blank slates when we are born?
• Reflexes
• Instincts
• Universal language
• Form

Are we hardwired?
• Two hundred billion neurons!
• We lose our neurons if we do not use them!
• Those who remain increase in their complexity!

Where are we going from here?
• What happens when we learn new stuff?
• What are our memories?
• What do we mean by urges, moods, emotions, and thoughts?

When I think of a beautiful summer night by the beach what do I really do?
• Our thoughts are nothing more than special pattern of neural activities!
• Patterns of neural activities are shaped within a neural network!
• To what extend these patterns are influenced by our experience?
• To what extend they are innate?

Why is there so much emphasis on knowing 'oneself' in religious literature?
Why does it all mater at all?