The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, transformative, and uplifting reading
Review: Why has humanity been able to create elegant high-minded philosophies and at the same time indulge in abdominal behaviors that are the antithesis of our great ideals?

Joseph Chilton-Pierce states that the essential qualities of transcendence and violence are not so much moral or ethical in nature, but an issue of biology. According to Pierce, transcendence is our biological imperative and it is restrained by enculturation. He supports his idea with research from a new wave of biologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers.

The core key to transcendence is centered on the new discovery that humans have five different neural structures: four located in the head, and one in the heart. The discovery of the neural structure in the heart means that the heart is also a "brain" that functions in dynamic with our four-fold brain.

The reason for our unnecessary violent behavior is due to the lack of development and employment of the heart brain/brain dynamic. This lack of development comes from the learning of some survival strategies (enculturation) that restrict the potential to transcend. With the use of our heart brain, we will be able to override our survival strategies and achieve a greater form of intelligence.

Pierce provides historical models of human transcendence as well as shares with us his own experiences with transcendence and unconflicted behavior.

Inspiring, transformative, and uplifting reading.