Latest Issue of the MindBrainEd Think Tank + (ISSN 2434-1002) 3 MindBrained Bulletin Think Tank Work Mem Mar 1 2 | Page 19

which he supports well in the first half of the book. The second half shows how such a
thesis can be applied to issues that concern Wexler, leaving us to draw our own
conclusions about issues that concern us.
One final note: the book is now ten years old; understanding of the brain and its
plasticity have increased hugely in that time. I would be interested in hearing how
other SIG members react to Wexler’s theories, especially as they relate to cultural
learning and plasticity. The afterlife of a theory (after its publication and circulation)
can be just as interesting as its precursors and supporting evidence, but much more
difficult to track. It would be interesting to know how this thesis was received by
Wexler’s colleagues and critics, and how it fits in with subsequent studies and new
understandings. Can anyone provide further insight into this?
Stephen M. Ryan, from Sanyo Gakuen University in Okayama, is trying to combine his interest in
neuroscience with his passion for Study Abroad.
Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich
interviews Dr. Bruce Wexler about
Brain and Culture
It has actually been suggested that
warfare may have been the principle
evolutionary pressure that created
the huge gap between the human
brain and that of our closest living
relatives, the anthropoid apes.
Whole groups of hominids with
inferior brains could not win wars
and were therefore exterminated.
- Jane Goodall
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