What does it mean to be human? That’s what I asked two weeks ago and suggested that the two extremes of the answer pole are “materialism” (we are the sum of our biological operations) to “ghost in the machine” (our biological unit houses a soul-and the soul is what makes us human).
This debate isn’t going away anytime soon. And depending upon your Scripture selection you can find all kinds of supports for what you think. Genesis 2 (the second creation story) says that God made humans from the “dust of the ground” (very materialistic) and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, or ruah (not exactly a “ghost in the machine” but certainly more than just the “material”).
I’m going way out on a limb here and want to suggest that in that dust/breath concoction God gave humans a bounty of mirror neurons. These amazing neurons (discovered in 1994 at the University of Parma) mimic and imitate…everything. (I’m hoping my grandson-shown here-learns to mimic fishing with grandpa.) They reside throughout our brains, but specifically in two areas on the left side of the inferior parietal lobe (left-top-back part of your head) that have no antecedent primate structures. Other mammals have mirror neurons, but not nearly in the same quantity as humans.
With mirror neurons we copy everything we see. A baby sticks out its tongue because Mom sticks out her tongue. A boy watches and often does what his father does. A disciple follows the teachings and practices of the teacher. “Human see-human do.” What’s really amazing is that they fire in our heads even if we don’t actually mimic the behavior. That is to say, our brains are doing a lot of behavioral imitation even if we are unaware of it. (My grandson Is fishing, he just didn’t bring his pole. 
)
Mirror neurons copy everything. Ceaselessly, endlessly, repeatedly. Without some sense of inhibition, we would act out everything we see and/or think. Maybe it’s not so ironic that this Genesis account ends with THE FALL. The humans take it too far and want to imitate (mirror neurons) God. CRASH!!
These are the outlining shadows of being human…a God-given dust/breath concoction leads to incredible possibilities and potential, social engagement and mimicking, taking it too far, and then falling. Mirror neurons are part of the mechanics of what God is up to in us.
When have you copied some behavior you thought was good and/or bad?
One of my favorite insights about life is from Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., who wrote “We ARE what we PRETEND to be… so we need to be careful what we pretend to be.” Pretend to be compassionate, and that’s what you’ll become. Pretend to be hateful, that’s your future, too.
You’ve upped the ante, Paul, by suggesting that others, also, just may become what we pretend to be. The example of faithfulness in living we set, through what we say and do, is even more high-stakes than we knew!
Let’s see… how soon can I start pretending to be more patient, tolerant, prayerful, thoughtful, etc…?
By: Dick Wehrs on November 1, 2011
at 6:28 pm
[...] Paul Hill gave an energetic talk on the role of the brain in the ecosystem of Christian nurture. See his blog posts about the amygdala and mirror neurons. [...]
By: Simply Pastor Matt » Blog Archive » Children, Youth and a New Kind of Christianity: Info-Saturation Nuggets on May 25, 2012
at 7:14 pm