272 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”Perhaps I should mention in passing that some evolutionary biolo-
gists maintain an opposite view of art. They suggest that art, along with
other aspects of human culture, are evolutionary “spandrels”. (A span-
drel is an unintended space in architecture, fortuitously created by some
essential structures of a building, but itself serving no useful function.)
According to Gould and Lewontin, who coined the term, a “spandrel”
in biology is a non-adaptive characteristic that arises as a byproduct of
other adaptive features, even though it may subsequently enhance the
fitness of the species.^23 In my opinion, these people fail to recognize the
importance of group selection and the role of art in the process.
12.6.8 Empathy
Empathy is the sharing by a person of the feelings of others — their joy,
their sorrow, and their pains. One prerequisite is the ability to “read” the
facial expression of other persons. Studies on human subjects revealed
that facial emotional recognition involves several brain areas: the sensory
cortices, the facial recognition area, the emotional centers, and the hip-
pocampus.^24 Using functional MRI, Singer and coworkers localized the
substrate for empathy of pain experience to the brain network associated
with affective qualities, including the anterior insula and the anterior
cingulated cortex, but not the parts associated with sensory qualities.^25
Furthermore, if empathy turns into compassion toward humanity (a
higher state of feeling), the reward system including the nucleus accum-
bens is activated.^26
The neural correlates of empathy are further advanced by the
discovery of a group of neurons that fires when a subject (monkey) is
watching another subject performing a certain act. The neurons that
fire in the observer’s brain are those that would have been activated if
the observer were intending to execute the same action. These neurons,
called “mirror neurons,” appear to play a role in what we understand as
empathy.^27 For example, a mirror neuron that fires when the monkey
rips a piece of paper would also fire when the monkey sees or hears