Today, I spoke with Dr Douglas Fields, who is a neuroscientist and author of numerous books and articles about the brain. We discussed his excellent and important book, Why We Snap: Understanding the Rage Circuit in Your Brain, which focuses on the neuroscience that triggers rage and violence. It turns out, evolution has endowed every single one of us with nine neural pathways that, when activated, will lead to a violent and oftentimes involuntary and non-conscious response. During our chat, Doug explained these circuits—captured in the mnemonic LIFEMORTS—and how they relate to many important issues, including: their applicability to our interpersonal relationships; origins in threat detection; their unconscious nature and subsequent voluntary expression; impact of social media and technology; disproportionate effect of stress; power of genes and the environment; manifestations of violence in different genders; utility in peacebuilding; training of responses; role in PTSD and, perhaps most-importantly, geopolitics and war.
Several previous episodes that link to the topics we discussed include:
Role of the environment:
Geopolitics:
PTSD and trauma
I also mentioned an article I recently published on the state of Western democracy, grey zone warfare by authoritarian states and how social media is contributing to a build-up of tension in our societies. You can view the article here.
----
Full show notes:
My guest today is Dr Douglas Fields, who is a neuroscientist and author of numerous books and articles about the brain. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, University of Maryland adjunct professor, and Chief of the Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section at the National Institutes of Health. He received advanced degrees at UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, UC San Diego, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford and Yale University.
He writes about science for Scientific American, Quanta, Outside Magazine, Huffington Post, Undark Magazine, Psychology Today, and similar prestigious outlets. His neuroscience research has been featured on national television, radio, NPR, the National Geographic and others, and he speaks about neuroscience for the general public on mediums like NPR, World Science Festival, TEDex and Google Talks.
He is the author of three books about neuroscience for the general reader, The Other Brain, about glia, which are brain cells that communicate without electricity, Why We Snap, about the neuroscience of rage, and his new award-winning book, Electric Brain, about brainwaves, brain-computer interface, and brain stimulation. Some of the topics we discussed today include:
30. Adam Cooper - Mediation, Diplomacy and Digital Conflict
29. The Story Behind ‘The Voices Of War‘
28. Sahar Fetrat - On the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan
27. Dr Ghassan Jawad Kadhim - Still ‘The Last Optimist In Baghdad‘?
26. LTCOL Dave Grossman - On killing, combat, sleep, ’blind spots’ and everything else in between
25. Dr Mike Martin & Dr Christopher Ankersen - Afghanistan Update and Future
24. Hizbullah Khan - On the current situation and the future of Afghanistan
23. Ehsaan - The Life of a Coalition Interpreter in Afghanistan
22. Hizbullah Khan - Situation in Afghanistan as seen by a local analyst and journalist
21. Dr Kay Danes - On Interpreters and Locally Employed Staff stuck in Kabul
20. Dr Mike Martin - Update on unfolding situation in Afghanistan
19. David Livingstone Smith - On Dehumanisation
18. Shannon E French - On ’The Code of the Warrior’ and Ethics of War
17. Will Yates and Joe McCleary - On Trial for War Crimes: A Soldier’s Experience
16. Andrew Quilty - Perspectives of a Photo- and Investigative- Journalist
15. John Blaxland - Reflexions on Australian military operations and lessons learnt
14. Džemil Hodžić - Finding Light in the Dark
13. Hasan Aygun - The Pragmatic Diplomat
12. Roger Noble - A Major General’s Perspective
11. Harry Moffitt - A Humble Warrior
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL