Neuroscience Addiction

To understand something, you need to know its history. Right? Wrong, says Alex Rosenberg in How History Gets Things Wrong. Feeling especially well-informed after reading a book of popular history on the best-seller list? Don't. Narrative history is always, always wrong. It not just incomplete or inaccurate but deeply wrong, as wrong as Ptolemaic astronomy. We no longer believe that the earth is the center of the universe. Why do we still believe in historical narrative? Our attachment to history as a vehicle for understanding has a long Darwinian pedigree and a genetic basis.

Neuroscience confirms that communication and emotional attachments can change opinions and behaviors. Explaining the link between the human brain and conduct has always been one of the most interesting and challenging aspects of scientific studies. The sequencing of genes, and development in molecular biology, have illuminated the cause and cure of many neurological diseases and us the knowledge of how the brain controls behavior.