Difference between revisions of "JAN 26"

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==3: JAN 26==
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==4. JAN 26==
  
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===Assigned===
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===Assigned Work===
  
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:*Hibbing, John R., Kevin Smith, and John R. Alford, ''Predisposed: Liberals, conservatives, and the biology of political difference'', Chapter 1, "Living with the Enemy". (32)
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:*Sonnenbergs, C 6, "A Gut Feeling"
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:*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ PBS Aristotle and Virtue Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #38]
 
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:*Everyday Ethics Discussion and Short Writing Prompt #1.  Due at midnight tonight!
 
  
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===In-class content===
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===In-class===
  
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:*Lecture Segment: Philosophical Theories: Virtue Ethics
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:*Practicality: Comments on food budgets
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:*Lecture Segment: Some Preliminaries about Ethical theory and objectivity
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:*Satisfcation/Practicality: A 50cent egg lesson
  
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===Reading Quiz===
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===Practicality: Comments on Food Budgets===
  
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:*Today's quiz is for practice.  Here is the link:
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::*Some country comparisons: [https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-prices-and-spending/].  Generally, American's spend under 10% of disposable income on food vs. about 14-17% for Italians, French, etc.  These are rough comparisons because of wealth effects and geographic effects. Norwegians are wealthier than Americans, Italians a bit less wealthy, but Mediterranean cultures have closer access to inexpensive fresh food.
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::*Still, at $20/hr, if you spend 14% of net monthly income on food, you would have about $400 to spend.
  
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===Some Preliminaries about Ethical theory and objectivity===
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===Satisfaction/Practicality: A 50cent Egg Lesson===
  
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:*A Framework for thinking about moral theories.
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:*The original 50cent egg lesson. 
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:*A new 50cent egg lesson.
  
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::*Where should we look for "moral goodness"?
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===The Enteric-Central Nervous System Axis===
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::*Intentions (Kantian), Act/Person nexus (Aristotle), Consequences (Mill, Singer - utilitarian)
 
  
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::*For Aristotle, whose Virtue theory we will discuss today.
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[[file:Microbiota-gut-Brain image1.jpg]]
  
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:*The following is pretty standard, but was drawn from Peter Singer's classic, ''Practical Ethics'':
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[[file:Microbiota-gut-Brain image2.jpg]]
  
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:*Singer's arguments against cultural relativism:
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===Sonnenbergs, C 6, "A Gut Feeling"===
  
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::*Cultural Relativism (the old discussion): Ethics varies by culture. Singer: This is true and false, same act under different conditions may have different value, but this is '''superficial relativism'''.  For example, existence of birth control led to a general change in sexual ethics. The moral principle in question (don't have kids you're not ready to care for) might remain the same and be objective, but the prohibition on casual sex might change.  (Note: Polling data on advisability of living together prior to marriage.  So cultural change itself doesn't tell you whether moral principles are changing.   
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:*documents the two-way comm bt brain and gut (enteric nervous system). Gut brain is "listening" in on the trillions of microbes in the gut.   
  
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::*Subjectivist Relativism - This position may not be held by any thoughtful person, but it sounds like what some people say when they start studying values and becomes confused or cynical.   
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:*Central nervous system (sympathetic and parsympathetic).  Autonomic functions like heart rate include "transit rate" of food, secretion of acid in stomach and mucus in intestines.  Hypothalmoic-ituitary adrenal axis (HPA) controls hormones that affect digestion.
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:::*The Position: "Wrong" means "I disapprove" or "my society disapproves")
 
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:::*The Problems:
 
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::::*If this sort of relativism is true, polls could determine ethics.  But they don't.
 
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::::*Deep subjectivism can't making sense of disagreement. Ethics is a kind of conversation.
 
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::::*There is just too much research suggesting that "I approve" isn't philosophical "rock bottom".
 
  
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:*Singer: Ok to say the values aren't objective like physics (aren't facts about the world), but not sensible to deny the meaningfulness of moral disagreement.  Ethical reasoning.
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:*Gut bacteria can influence our perception of the world and behavior:
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::*serotonin production
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::*toxplasma gondii (rodents and cats)
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::*microbe free mice are bigger risk takers.  Critical phase in correcting for this.  
 +
::*mice with impaired microbiota had worse memory (141)
  
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:*Are there minimum conditions for ethical theories?
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:*Speculate symbiotic relationship -- microbes likely improve fitness through risk aversion and memory.
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:*Mechanisms -- gut bacteria produce chemicals that go into blood stream. 
  
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::*The sorts of reasons that count as ethical: universalizable ones. Can't just appeal to one person or group's interest.  Note: most standard ethical theories satisfy this requirement, yet yield different analysis and advice.  We will look at the specific form of universalization in each theory we discuss, but you could say this is a kind of defining feature of ethical discourse.
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:*More evidence of effects on perception and behavior:
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::*2011 McMaster study: fecal transplants between anxious and gregarious strains of mice partially reversed behavior.  Brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) - associated with depression, schizophrenia, and OCD.  Gregarious mice has increase in BDNF after transplant. Intermediate mechanisms not completely clear.
  
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===Philosophical Moral Theories: Virtue Ethics===
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:*144: MACS (microbiotically available carbs) produce SCFAs, but also many other compounds, including toxins that normal kidneys filter.  Lots to learn.  Some stimulate appetite.  Many products may be netural with respect to fitness.
  
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:*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ PBS Aristotle and Virtue Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #38]
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:*hepatic encephalopathy -- treatments target microbes that produce toxins.  
  
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:*concepts from video...
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:*TMAO - trimethylamine-N-oxide. produced by microbes. implicated in cardiovascular disease. Red meat and fatty foods increase TMAO.  Vegans and vegetarians have low TMAO production.  Study on long term vegan who eats a steak.  Still low TMAO.  Might be lacking those microbes.  (might argue for low meat consumption as nearly healthful as abstinance). 
  
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::*Virtue — general idea of being an excellent person.  Also, specific lists of virtues (vary by time and culture)
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:*Two-way communication between "brains"
 +
::*induce stress in mice and their microbiota change. threat slows motility and digestion.  (maybe prep for action)
 +
::*some stress events have long term effect on microbiota. 150
 +
::*IBS - read - could be a stress induced imbalance that is hard to correct.  also heightened pain perception!  Some evidence in animal models that probiotics can help.  Some studies in humans suggest this as well.  Better studies needed.
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::*ASD - autism spectrum disorders. Increasing dramatically.  [https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html] Note connection to rise of industrial diets!
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::*ASD research 2013 Caltech studies by Mazmanian - looked at maternal immune response to infection during pregnancy.  Treatment with b. fragilis helped somewhat in mice.  Effect might involve other microbes.  B. fragilis affected over 100 other compounds in blood.  Human/mice diffs are significant here.  Caution.
  
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:*A bit of Aristotle’s theory of virtue and human nature:  fixed nature, species eternal, '''proper function (telos),''' distinctive aspect of function: being rational and political.  (Note that modern virtue theorists aren't committed to some of A's false ideas.)
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::*2013 UCLA fMRI study on probiotic yogurt and response to negative facial emotions.
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::*Virtue is natural to us.  Like an acorn becoming a tree. Being virtuous is being the best of the kind of thing you are.  A deep intuition supports this developmental approach. (Pause to consider personal examples of the reality of moral development.)
 
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::*Theory of the Golden Mean: Virtue as mean between extremes of emotion:  Ex. Courage (story of stopping the mugger), Honesty, Generosity. (Let's give our own examples.)  Virtue as training of emotional response in relation to knowledge of circumstances and the good.
 
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::*How do you acquire virtue? Experience.  Practical Wisdom cultivated through habituation.  Follow a moral exemplar (virtue coach). Good parenting and shaping by healthy family.  It's a training program in becoming the best human you can be based on your "telos". 
 
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::*What if we don’t want to become virtuous?  What is the motivation to virtue?  The pursuit of a happy life that “goes well”.  Eudaimonia.  Human flourishing.  Challenge and development of talents. Should be attractive. Connection between virtue and happiness not guaranteed for Aristotle, but could be tighter in other versions.
 
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:*Additional points:
 
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::*centrality of virtues and practical wisdom.  Is practical wisdom real? 
 
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::*historic variability and list of virtues. Curiosity was a vice in Medieval Europe.  Check out virtue lists on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue Virtue Wiki].
 
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:*From Aristotle to Evolutionary theory.  Eternality of the species.  What if you drop this false belief?  Human excellence may have to do with meeting or exceeding the challenges posed by our environment.  Then the idea that virtues change by time and culture makes more sense.  The pursuit of the good life is the objective and constant part of morality, and the everything that changes is part of the challenge of knowing the human good.
 
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===EE1: Everyday Ethics Discussion and Short Writing Prompt #1 (300 words)===
 
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:*Prompt: Is it morally acceptable to gossip?  If not, why not.  If so, under what circumstances and conditions?Present your theory about the ethics of gossip. A good theory of gossip would establish an understanding of gossip, take a position on the value or acceptability of gossip and provide a principle or rationale for that position.  This ungraded assignment will count for 10 points.
 
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:*[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScSlw0I1mjv_pqqEBr4Eiw1lKGJ65gs6o-kbP3qG_PWEWk1-w/viewform?usp=sf_link Follow this link when you are ready to write.]  Due midnight tonight!
 
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===Hibbing, et. al. ''Predisposed'' Chapter 1===
 
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:*'''Some opening examples of the persistence of partisanship'''
 
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:*opening example: William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal -- meant as example of highly educated partisans who would be able to debate in a civilized way.  60's era political divisions often violent. 
 
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:*also historical examples of highly partisan politics -- Hamilton & Adams, Hamilton & Burr (duelled).  Jefferson's dirty tricks. 
 
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:*Goal of the Book:  to explain why people experience and interpret the political world so very differently. (6): list of difference that track political difference.  READ
 
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:*'''A methodological concern'''
 
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:*Does it makes sense to reduce political difference to "liberal" vs. "conservative".  They are in fact measuring lots of differences, but claim there is a tradition of recognizing this difference.  11: some terminological issues.  Ultimately, labels for clusters of real personality and behavioral differences. 
 
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:*Think Probabalistically: not biological determinists, rather real persistent differences shape and mold our ideology.  Example: relation between conscientiousness and ideology 14.  A number of studies replicate a positive correlation bt conscientiousness and conservatism.  Lesson on 15: difference between representing data in categories vs. scatterplot.  Wilson-Patterson index of conservatism.  Brief lesson on correlation, 17.  Correlation for conscientiousness and conservatism small r = .2
 
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:*'''What are predispositions?'''
 
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:*Predispositions - some stimuli, like a pencil, are emotionally neutral.  Others not.  Leibniz speculated about "appetitions" Neurscientist Eagleman: brain running alot of its own programs.  Ad hoc defenses (also in Haidt) called "baloney generator" by Pinker.  We may have an illusion of rationality and control. 
 
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:*Examples of self-deception (really, environmental psychology) p. 21, also top of 22 read. 
 
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:*Responses to Political stimuli emotionally salient and not always conscious:  Lodge: "hot cognition" or "automaticity" 
 
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:*23: clarifying argument: not nature / nurture. predispositions are difficult to change.  research on long term stability of pol. orientation.  180 degree turn is very unusual.  Technical def: "Predispositions, then, can be thought of as biologically and psychologically instantiated defaults that, absent new information or conscious overriding, govern response to given stimuli."
 
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:*Our actual predispositions vary, but also the degree to which we have predispositions is variable across a group. (This is one reason researchers in the field sometimes focus on highly partisan test subjects.)
 
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:*25: some background on theorizing about political dispositions.  what is new today is better research, but also research connecting political variation with bio/cog variation.
 
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:*27: resistance to this kind of theory in political science.  Philip Converse - political beliefs are distinct set, not related to other things about a person. also, idea that politics is best understood in terms of history and culture
 

Revision as of 22:44, 26 January 2022

4. JAN 26

Assigned Work

  • Sonnenbergs, C 6, "A Gut Feeling"

In-class

  • Practicality: Comments on food budgets
  • Satisfcation/Practicality: A 50cent egg lesson

Practicality: Comments on Food Budgets

  • Some country comparisons: [1]. Generally, American's spend under 10% of disposable income on food vs. about 14-17% for Italians, French, etc. These are rough comparisons because of wealth effects and geographic effects. Norwegians are wealthier than Americans, Italians a bit less wealthy, but Mediterranean cultures have closer access to inexpensive fresh food.
  • Still, at $20/hr, if you spend 14% of net monthly income on food, you would have about $400 to spend.

Satisfaction/Practicality: A 50cent Egg Lesson

  • The original 50cent egg lesson.
  • A new 50cent egg lesson.

The Enteric-Central Nervous System Axis

File:Microbiota-gut-Brain image1.jpg

Microbiota-gut-Brain image2.jpg

Sonnenbergs, C 6, "A Gut Feeling"

  • documents the two-way comm bt brain and gut (enteric nervous system). Gut brain is "listening" in on the trillions of microbes in the gut.
  • Central nervous system (sympathetic and parsympathetic). Autonomic functions like heart rate include "transit rate" of food, secretion of acid in stomach and mucus in intestines. Hypothalmoic-ituitary adrenal axis (HPA) controls hormones that affect digestion.
  • Gut bacteria can influence our perception of the world and behavior:
  • serotonin production
  • toxplasma gondii (rodents and cats)
  • microbe free mice are bigger risk takers. Critical phase in correcting for this.
  • mice with impaired microbiota had worse memory (141)
  • Speculate symbiotic relationship -- microbes likely improve fitness through risk aversion and memory.
  • Mechanisms -- gut bacteria produce chemicals that go into blood stream.
  • More evidence of effects on perception and behavior:
  • 2011 McMaster study: fecal transplants between anxious and gregarious strains of mice partially reversed behavior. Brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) - associated with depression, schizophrenia, and OCD. Gregarious mice has increase in BDNF after transplant. Intermediate mechanisms not completely clear.
  • 144: MACS (microbiotically available carbs) produce SCFAs, but also many other compounds, including toxins that normal kidneys filter. Lots to learn. Some stimulate appetite. Many products may be netural with respect to fitness.
  • hepatic encephalopathy -- treatments target microbes that produce toxins.
  • TMAO - trimethylamine-N-oxide. produced by microbes. implicated in cardiovascular disease. Red meat and fatty foods increase TMAO. Vegans and vegetarians have low TMAO production. Study on long term vegan who eats a steak. Still low TMAO. Might be lacking those microbes. (might argue for low meat consumption as nearly healthful as abstinance).
  • Two-way communication between "brains"
  • induce stress in mice and their microbiota change. threat slows motility and digestion. (maybe prep for action)
  • some stress events have long term effect on microbiota. 150
  • IBS - read - could be a stress induced imbalance that is hard to correct. also heightened pain perception! Some evidence in animal models that probiotics can help. Some studies in humans suggest this as well. Better studies needed.
  • ASD - autism spectrum disorders. Increasing dramatically. [2] Note connection to rise of industrial diets!
  • ASD research 2013 Caltech studies by Mazmanian - looked at maternal immune response to infection during pregnancy. Treatment with b. fragilis helped somewhat in mice. Effect might involve other microbes. B. fragilis affected over 100 other compounds in blood. Human/mice diffs are significant here. Caution.
  • 2013 UCLA fMRI study on probiotic yogurt and response to negative facial emotions.
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