Biology 103 Book Commentary

Thinking is a basic function that occurs almost involuntary millions of times a day. However, there is vast scientific research that goes into understanding the basic functions of how and why we think the way we do.

In recent years, authors have taken different approaches to understanding the science of thinking, and what factors frame our thought processes. In 2005, Malcolm Gladwell authored Blink, a critical and public success, and used rapid cognition as a platform for using the human mind and its decision making process.

 If Biology 103 has taught me anything this semester, it is that nothing and everything matters. Everything matters in the sense that there is no such thing as a real closed system and everything is related; the progression of everything affects everything else, in some complex way. Nothing matters in the amazing sense that, to our current knowledge, only humans consciously care about life on Earth and in the Universe on a long time scale… things do not “matter” objectively outside of human perception. The course has taught me quite a bit about the faultiness of human perception in that we believe our perceptions hold truth. We so easily forget other animals do not see, smell, hear, taste, touch, or sense the world the same way humans do.