The Behaviorome Mental Map Project

Anthony Canamucio One of the most interesting questions that confronts a thinking being is whether people can comprehend the ideas and thoughts of one another. I believe that we can, and I also believe that we have the means to embark upon a project that would culminate in the understanding of all human ideas. If we define an idea as the mental conceptualization of something, including physical objects, an action, or sensory experience, either now or in the future, then the number of objects in a living being's universe is finite.1 If we apply the methodologies used in genetics, psychology, animal behavior, sociology, history, and other disciplines to those ideas, it would provide us with the basis of a mental mapping project,1,2 with the goal of describing the diversity of human ideas in any given situation or dilemma. This is not a diagram of a physical structure, like a genome or proteome, but a map of ideas. The project stages will include verification and expansion of my initial proposal for nine separate classes of ideas, including: conceptualization of physical objects; memories; sensory states such as pain, pleasure, libido; and interactive conceptualization of ideas in a community-based response.1 When we face a moral dilemma, such as killing a cow to eat a steak, interplay occurs between multiple ideas that come to mind before reaching a conclusion. We want to plot all the ideas related to each possible choice of a potential response, as well as the actual reactions made by different persons in different cases. Regarding the cow example, some would say, "Cows have a right to live," "We should minimize pain," "We should only kill cows with good meat," "We should maximize the amount of meat," "We can kill because cows are less than human," etc. The number of ideas depends on the arbitrary limits placed around the notions. In February, I unveiled a framework for this mental map model in Japan at our first international conference. The four-dimensional model included points, displayed on a six-sided matrix, each side of which represented a different overriding moral concept. The six sides symbolize the four widely accepted ethical principles of self-love (selfishness, autonomy), love of others (altruism, justice), loving good (beneficence), loving life (minimizing harm), with two sides from the perspective of time (memories and hopes). Note that this model does not necessarily exclude nonthinking beings, because they still share our heritage; the foundation of the ethical principles appeared in early animals.3 Selfishness is basic to survival, and altruism is widely seen in biological organisms. The optimization of benefits and minimization of risks are important to all survival machines in evolution, and also are important for public and scientific policy. Having such a map would enhance scientific understanding of ourselves, and could be used in a variety of ways. For example, researchers could compare mental maps and idea diversity between persons and species. This would allow the development of descriptive bioethics to be included in a common, comparative ethics framework. The map also would aid in making policy that respects the diversity of people both culturally and globally. Having such a diagram would allow us to include more diversity of ideas in policy frameworks. We will have to pay attention to ensure it is used well, and not used to dictate majority views to minorities. Also, if we could make individual mental maps, it would offer people assistance when making moral decisions. This would give them a chance to consider all their ideas, and to make more thoughtful moral choices. It also would be useful to test and implement better bioethics educational methods. The project is open to anyone who wishes to contribute in an open spirit of academic multidisciplinary understanding (www.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/~macer/menmap.htm). The next phase will be to assign persons to tasks for building a mental map; several models can be pursued to match the best diagram to each particular purpose. Darryl Macer (macer@biol.tsukuba.ac.jp) is Director of the Eubios Ethics Institute in New Zealand and Japan, and teaches bioethics at the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan. References 1. D.R. Macer, "The next challenge is to map the human mind," Nature, 420:121, Nov. 14, 2002. 2. D.R. Macer, "Finite or infinite mind? A proposal for an integrative mental mapping project," Eubios J Asian Intl Bioethics, 12:203-6, 2002. 3. D.R. Macer, Bioethics is Love of Life, Christchurch, NZ: Eubios Ethics Institute, 1998.

The Behaviorome Mental Map Project

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