Mirror Cells

In the "I feel for you. really" article the author, Albert Nerenberg speaks about how we can mirror the feelings of others like their happiness, anger, sadness, and fear. If he were to have a conversation with the author Robert Wright who wrote "Why Cant We All Just Get Along?" I feel he would agree with Joshua Greene who was also incorporated in Wrights article. They would agree on how humans can mirror the emotions of others, which can explain why when it comes to the trolley experiment no one would push a single person because they could be mirroring the fear of the person they are about to push in front of the trolley. Although they would probably disagree on how Nerenberg say that sociopaths and psychopaths don't posses the same ability because they didn't grow up with the ability to empath with others but Greene thinks that it would be possible to be compassionate for any human. Greene doesn't really mention how people can redevelop the ability to empath or mirror others but nerenberg says it cant be taught but that that it has to be caught in the moment of empathic interaction. They would both believe that it is possible for people to be cooperative but it is still competitive at this moment since there are those who lack that ability to empath with others.

Albert Nerenberg and Robert Wright obviously have their sides on the issues of empathy and morality. Nerenberg sides with the idea of humans being cooperative with the science behind mirror neurons acting as a source for empathy which drives a civilization. Wright suggests that the reason for humans being so competitive is that it was all because of natural selection and the way humans were roughly around the Stone Age. If the two where to sit down and debate about the topic their would be some areas where one would stand their ground. Nerenberg holds a firm belief based off of science that those who have empathy will cooperate with others while those who lack it will not care for others. With Nerenberg's point of view it leans toward the side of humans being cooperative. However Wright suggests that humans have always been competitive because of the way we group ourselves dating back to the time of the first humans. Cooperation as he suggests, is only to a certain degree as people have their own sense of morality which in some cases is such an unbreakable will that they will not change their beliefs. Wright uses the topic of religion as a solid base for this argument. His sides leans towards the fact that because of this we are competitive.

Cooperaive v.s Competitive

The author Albert Nerenberg from the article, “I feel for you. really,” and the text “Why can’t we all just get along? The Uncertain Biological Basis of Morality” by Robert Wright both have different opinions on whether people are cooperative or competitive. Albert Nerenberg thinks we are cooperative because of our Mirror Neurons and Robert Wright would disagree because of our morals we incorporate in our judgements to make us competitive. Albert Nerenberg’s idea of us having Mirror Neurons will make us empathize with others. Such as his example he used of when we watch movies and we feel the way the actors are feeling and will end up crying when they do. By having these mirror neurons we would be more cooperative with one another because we will be able to feel what others are feeling towards the situation and be on their sight of mind. Robert Wright believes that people are more towards being competitive because of us infusing our morals with completing an action. He states that we have a bias from one another due to natural selection. That conflicts with the way towards you feel towards situations because you won’t see what you have done wrong only what the opposing side has done negatively. Such as when the U.S. “coup in Iran, overthrowing a democratically elected government and installing a brutally repressive regime that ruled for decades” and the Iranians continue to be suspicious of Americans. The bias you have is not of the whole piece, it’s only your sight of view in which you’re not looking at your blind spots.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

The central argument in this article is about the rationality of human moral judgement and how humans behave when exposed to certain situations. Do people's responses have to do with the emotional parts of their brains, or a more logical thought. For example, Wright mentions Joshua Greene's trolley experiment which will kill five people if not stopped unless a lever is pulled and falls killing only one person instead. Whether people would choose to not kill anyone and let the five people die, or pull the lever and have four people live is the argument. Some people are swayed by an emotional response in their brains because they rather not be blamed for picking one person to die. While the logical reaction people just thought about how they could save more people by killing one. That being said, the central idea of this article deals with why it is people behave the way they do. Some people are more cooperative with others, but others can not seem to get along.

I think the central argument in this article is that we are lacking compassion. Or that we do not see the outcomes to our actions. In the article, Joshua Greene mentions his experiment the Trolley Problem. He says how we would dutifully kill a man by pulling a lever but refuse on the principle to give him a nudge that leads to the same thing. He also mentions how we differ with moral perspectives. Greene calls it the “Tragedy of commonsense morality”, he says how people aren’t selfish per say but they have a different perspective of what a moral society should be. Maybe that is why we are capable of one thing rather than another when they have the same outcome. Greene also talks about empathy, this might also be a factor in how we respond or react to something. It might also depend on diversity and how some might see a person’s value and even our morals. In the article they discuss gay rights to global morals and their value. This is not just based on thing but multiple and it affects numerous things all based on how we act, think, speak, and even act.

In this novel, Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor was a dark and quiet toned novel. The story begins when Julian and his mother has to go thru this problem. Julian's mother who needs to lose twenty pounds because of her blood pressure issues Julian (her son) has to take her to the hospital every Wednesday night. By reading and looking for context clues it gave me a feeling that Julian didn't want to take his mother to the hospital. On page 274, " The determination to make himself completely numb during the time he would be sacrificed to her pleasure."
At the end of this story Julian mother dies. Her death was very crucial. Julian and his mother was having a discussion which led to an argument. She ended up dying on sight.
I think the moral of this text is that you don't seem to appreciate the people around you until they're dead. Start to appreciate more and be righteous.

Beginning and End

In the text from the short story, Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor discussed a relationship between an adolescence and his mother. The mother needed to lose weight because of her blood pressure so she begin to take classes. The son took it upon himself to take his mother to classes because he knew she had done so much for him. The lady was getting older and had a hard time of making decisions often. She could not decide on a hat she wanted to wear so her son notified her that everything looked alright. At the end of the short story the lady became weak and could not take anything else. This short story tries to point out events that may go unnoticed until it is too late. The mother tried to talk to her child, but he did not acknowledge her and show her that he had an interest in anything she was trying to tell him. The boy trying to do what he can to make sure she did not annoy him or get in the way showed his feelings towards his mother. He did not notice she was letting go. 

Come together from different directions

"The idea of darkness seemed to sweep him back to her, postponing from moment to moment his entry into the world of guilt and sorrow." Segregation is the main point in this story. Caroline and julian are different yet they become one with each other without knowing it. Caroline was a black woman who  was very thick headed. "she continued to go on as if she has not heard him" Julian was a young boy who was introduced to guilt in this story by the end.

Everything That RIses Must Converge

Reading just from the first few words, readers can see that the setting takes place way back when segregation was still a major problem. There are quite a few lessons that readers can see as they read through the chapter. For one, the son is trying to make his mother mad sitting next to a "negro" that just walked on the bus. To spite her even more, he thinks up plans that will make her have to come in contact with colored people and readers can see that the son and mother don't have that great of a relationship. By the end, he just screams at her and treats her like shes nothing, and when something tragic happens, he then feels the sorrow and guilt of what he did. In a way you can see the lesson is to get off your pedestal and know that you are equal to everyone around you, while the other could be watch what you say before you regret it.