This paper maintains that when photons enter the pupil and reach the Inner Limiting Membrane （ILM）, they are reflected onto a point or centroid of the vitreous body, which could be the lens, to be transmitted by the...This paper maintains that when photons enter the pupil and reach the Inner Limiting Membrane （ILM）, they are reflected onto a point or centroid of the vitreous body, which could be the lens, to be transmitted by the Muiller cells to the Retinal Pigment Epithelium （RPE） hexagonal cells, where an almost complete image is formed in each of them, overlapping with the adjacent images, to be carried subsequently by each of the ganglion cell axons to a place where the single image we are aware of is formed. This process calls for a high degree of control and coordination, which must be effected by the horizontal, amacrine, and interplexiform cells, gap junctions and the feedback provided from the V1 area to the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus （LGN）. But, as the ILM covers the optic disc but not the fovea, the latter must produce the blind spot and the rays reflected radially from the centroid must have the same centre as the Muller cells in order to be able to channel them to the RPE cells.展开更多
The paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of religions is based on theory of mind as the product of interdependent division of labor between the forest specialist group (women and small children) and the woodlan...The paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of religions is based on theory of mind as the product of interdependent division of labor between the forest specialist group (women and small children) and the woodland specialist group (men) in early hominins who lived in the mixed forest-woodland habitat. To complement each other’s work without interfering each other’s work, one specialist group had to recognize (imagine) that the other specialist group existed to think for themselves and to do different works. The result was theory of mind which is to recognize (imagine) that the others exist to think for themselves. (The forest-woodland groups became the hunter-gatherer groups for the Homo species in the savanna habitat.) Under existential pressure, hominins invented imaginary specialists as imaginary agents who existed to think for themselves and to do different works in imaginary division of labor to enhance survival chance. The result was religion with imaginary behaviors. Therefore, religion is defined as a set of beliefs and behaviors based on theory of mind that produces a shared imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure. This paper proposes that the religious evolution consists of the premodern imaginative religion for local society habitat starting from bipedalism, the modern rational imaginative religion for regional society habitat starting from the Axial Age, and the postmodern diverse rational imaginative religion for global society habitat starting from the Information Revolution. In conclusion, the religious brain is the imaginative brain, and the religious social behaviors are imaginary social behaviors. The religious evolution is the evolution of human imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure, such as the religious reinforcement of social bonds to enhance the survival chance of social group and the religious relief of stress and anxiety to enhance the survival chance of individuals.展开更多
文摘This paper maintains that when photons enter the pupil and reach the Inner Limiting Membrane （ILM）, they are reflected onto a point or centroid of the vitreous body, which could be the lens, to be transmitted by the Muiller cells to the Retinal Pigment Epithelium （RPE） hexagonal cells, where an almost complete image is formed in each of them, overlapping with the adjacent images, to be carried subsequently by each of the ganglion cell axons to a place where the single image we are aware of is formed. This process calls for a high degree of control and coordination, which must be effected by the horizontal, amacrine, and interplexiform cells, gap junctions and the feedback provided from the V1 area to the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus （LGN）. But, as the ILM covers the optic disc but not the fovea, the latter must produce the blind spot and the rays reflected radially from the centroid must have the same centre as the Muller cells in order to be able to channel them to the RPE cells.
文摘The paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of religions is based on theory of mind as the product of interdependent division of labor between the forest specialist group (women and small children) and the woodland specialist group (men) in early hominins who lived in the mixed forest-woodland habitat. To complement each other’s work without interfering each other’s work, one specialist group had to recognize (imagine) that the other specialist group existed to think for themselves and to do different works. The result was theory of mind which is to recognize (imagine) that the others exist to think for themselves. (The forest-woodland groups became the hunter-gatherer groups for the Homo species in the savanna habitat.) Under existential pressure, hominins invented imaginary specialists as imaginary agents who existed to think for themselves and to do different works in imaginary division of labor to enhance survival chance. The result was religion with imaginary behaviors. Therefore, religion is defined as a set of beliefs and behaviors based on theory of mind that produces a shared imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure. This paper proposes that the religious evolution consists of the premodern imaginative religion for local society habitat starting from bipedalism, the modern rational imaginative religion for regional society habitat starting from the Axial Age, and the postmodern diverse rational imaginative religion for global society habitat starting from the Information Revolution. In conclusion, the religious brain is the imaginative brain, and the religious social behaviors are imaginary social behaviors. The religious evolution is the evolution of human imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure, such as the religious reinforcement of social bonds to enhance the survival chance of social group and the religious relief of stress and anxiety to enhance the survival chance of individuals.
