Worldviews and environmental ethics: Contributions of brain processing networks.
Marjorie Woollacott, Anne Shumway-Cook, Natasha Tassell-Matamua
Explore 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2023.03.005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network Meditation |
| Keywords | Environment Neural filters Worldview |
| Key points | Argues that shifting from a materialist to a post-materialist worldview, by modifying neural filters, is essential for improving environmental ethics. |
Abstract
Research suggests that worldviews define our relationship to the environment, including our responsibility to the environment and our planet. This paper examines two specific worldviews and their potential environmental impact: the materialist worldview, considered to be the dominant worldview of Western society, and the so-called post-materialist worldview. We believe that changing the worldview of both individuals and society is key to changing environmental ethics, specifically attitudes, beliefs, and actions towards the environment. Recent neuroscience research suggests that brain filters and networks contribute to concealing an expanded nonlocal awareness. This creates self-referential thinking and contributes to the limited conceptual framework characteristic of a materialist worldview. We discuss the underlying concepts of both materialist and post-materialist worldviews including their impact on environmental ethics, then explore the various types of neural filters and processing networks that contribute to a materialist worldview, and finally explore methods for modifying neural filters and changing worldviews.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default-mode, ego-functions and free-energy: a neurobiological account of Freudian ideas | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cooperation between the default mode network and the frontal–parietal network in the production of an internal train of thought | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 12
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
- Mapping the self in the brain's default mode network Neuroimage February 15, 2016
- Promoting prosocial behavior and self-regulatory skills in preschool children through a mindfulness-based kindness curriculum. Developmental Psychology November 10, 2014
- Meditation leads to reduced default mode network activity beyond an active task Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience April 22, 2015
and 7 more in the library