Ethical intelligence and education for culture of peace: the neuro-physiologocal dynamics in a sustainable way
As a result of our evolutionary process, the brain's frontal lobes are responsible for very elaborate forms of plans and strategies that regulate the ideas and actions we decide to take after internal dialogues. In the neocortex, there are structures required to plan the future and select the values we choose to adopt. This means we are qualified to create sustainable solutions for the world, building what we call a culture of peace. This area is no longer restricted to philosophical, political, or pedagogical considerations and has been expanded to include the neuro-physiologocal dynamics.
There are many risks of maintaining a way of life commanded by parts of our brain, focused on immediate comfort and rewards, in search to satisfy our most immediate needs.
We know it is possible to transform our internal and external structures and how we use them. We can learn to strengthen the neuro-physiological circuits and systems in the neocortex centered on our ability to develop higher values and thus, contribute to the creation of a sustainable future.
We may be standing before an opportunity to take an evolutionary leap. The identification of a part of our brains that is dedicated to processing ethical values opens the doors to profound implications about the nature of our understanding of the human mind and behavior. These are indications that suggest we are indeed a species capable of adopting ethical structures. This also means we are capable of building a nondestructive and sustainable way of life. It reflects the possibility we all have to learn to use our internal neural structures in a better way. We can consider the hypothesis that ethical intelligence does indeed exist as a human potential and should be developed.
Trabalho apresentado no VIII World Congress of Neuroscience do IBRO-The International Brain Research Organization, Florença/ julho de 2011.
CULTURA DE PAZ
EDUCAÇÃO EM VALORES