OUTLINE
Materia-Mind: Constructing a New Human Historical Science of the Co-creation of Material and Mind（Materia-Mind）
Greetings from the Principal Investigator
Although the importance of cross-disciplinary research has long been recognized, we still don't have a clear answer to the fundamental question, "What is a human being? Recent advances in scientific research on ancient genomes and paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic changes have revealed much about the birth and migration of Homo sapiens and their adaptation to the environment. On the other hand, the co-creation relationship between humans and things has been under-researched worldwide, although it is essential for analyzing human evolution, social transformation, and our future. This ambitious research field aims to elucidate the mechanisms of the intertwining of environmental construction by humans and changes in human cognition, body, and behavior through trans-disciplinary joint research that transcends the boundaries of the humanities and sciences and to propose a new model for understanding where humanity came from and where it is going in an integrated manner.
This fusion of humanities and sciences we are aiming for is not simply a collaboration of researchers in the humanities and sciences or a "scientificization" of the humanities by incorporating scientific techniques and methods. By incorporating humanities concepts and logic into science-related fields, we are attempting to fundamentally change the structure of academic knowledge.
Science and technology alone cannot achieve solutions to environmental destruction, war, poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. Researchers involved in technological development also need to be infused with "knowledge" from the humanities and social sciences, and we believe that the "Materia-Mind," which we advocate as a new concept, can significantly contribute to this end.
Naoko Matsumoto
Professor
Director, Research Institute for the Dynamics of Civilizations
Outline of the Research
With large and complex social organizations, advanced science and technology, and a variety of religious beliefs, including world religions, the formation of civilizations is among the qualities unique to humans. The changes seen are expanding qualitatively and quantitatively even now. To understand why this human-specific evolution occurred and how we got to where we are today, we must clarify how our civilizations developed. In other words, we need to understand how, after the appearance of Homo sapiens, the long period of nomadic hunter-gatherer life gave way to settled life and eventually led to the development of a complex society supported by various artificial tools and environments. To this end, it is necessary to understand that mind and material are inseparably linked and to clarify the process and mechanism of the “co-creation of mind and material” unique to humans, in which humans create objects and objects create humans.
This research area aims to elucidate the mechanism of the intertwining of human niche construction and changes in human cognition, body, and behavior through transdisciplinary joint research that transcends the boundaries of the humanities and sciences and to present a new model for understanding humankind’s past and future in an integrated manner.
From “Out of Eurasia” to “Miteria-Mind”
In the preceding project, “Out of Eurasia,” we conducted comparative and interdisciplinary research on the civilizations that developed independently by groups that left Eurasia and expanded into the Japanese archipelago, the Americas, and Oceania. The “Materia-Mind” project will further develop the leading-edge aspects of these results to clarify the mechanism by which the mind develops in tandem with the objects produced by humans.
Collaboration of six research groups
| A01 (Material & Mind) | Long-term change of the mind-body-cognition system evidenced in material culture |
| A02 (Human & Environment) | Entanglement of nature and human activities, co-creation between environment and mind |
| B01 (Behavior & System) | Limitations and possibilities of human cognitive abilities, mechanism of a major shift in cognitive abilities |
| B02 (Art & Emotion) | Integration of cognitive science and historical science for a new understanding of behavior, brain, and culture |
| C01 (Gene & Culture) | Evolutionary biological basis of “humanness,” modeling of new evolutionary causal structure |
| C02 (Representation & Modeling) | Systematic acquisition of 3D models, quantitative analysis, and modeling of the formation of Materia-Mind |
Collaborative research by six research groups.
How material culture has created the human body, brain, and mind
Focusing on the role played by objects (material culture) in human history, we will clarify the process and mechanism of “material mind co-creation.” The result will help to deepen our understanding of the nature of human evolution.
Penetration of humanities knowledge into science (transformation of the academic knowledge structure)
The solutions to the environmental destruction, wars, poverty, and gender inequality that we are currently facing cannot be achieved through scientific and technological advances alone. Researchers involved in technological development must also be infused with “knowledge” from the humanities and social sciences. This new concept of “material mind” from joint humanities-science research will contribute to this goal.
Proposal of a new evolutionary model
We propose a new cultural evolutionary model combining genes, neurophysiology, cognition, behavior, and society.
Member
| Steering Committee Miteria-Mind：Constructing a New Human Historical Science of the Co-creation of Material and Mind | |
|---|---|
| Principal Investigator | Naoko Matsumoto（Okayama University） |
| Co-investigators | Hideyuki Ōnishi（Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts） Hideaki Kawabata（Keio University） Toru Yamaguchi（Keio University） Shinya Yamamoto（Kyoto University） Nakao Hisashi（Nanzan Univesity） |
| Collaborators | Atsushi Iriki（Teikyo University） Satoru Nakazono（International University of Kagoshima） |
| A01 Material & Mind: Long-term change of the mind-body-cognition system evidenced in material culture | |
| Principal Investigator | Naoko Matsumoto（Okayama University） |
| Co-investigators | Tomo Ishimura（Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties） Yoshifumi Ueno（National Museum of Japanese History） Jun Takakura（Sapporo International University） Naoto Teramae（Komazawa University） Yuko Tokitsu（Takachiho University） Satoru Nakazono（International University of Kagoshima） Masahiro Fukunaga（Kyushu University） Yuichi Matsumoto（National Museum of Ethnology） |
| Collaborators | Maki Tarora（Kyushu National Museum） Stephen West（Okayama University） Morishita Yasuyuki（BIZEN Latinamerican Museum） Liliana Janik（University of Cambridge） |
| A02 Human & Environment: Entanglement of nature and human activities, co-creation between environment and mind | |
| Principal Investigator | Toru Yamaguchi（Keio University） |
| Co-investigators | Katsunori Imazu（Okayama University） Yoshihiko Kariya（Senshu University） Makoto Kobayashi（Tokyo Keizai University） Kazuho Shoji（Yamagata University） Shigeyuki Suzuki（Okayama University） Eisei Tsurumi（Open University of Japan） Chiharu Hongo（Chiba University） Jun Mitsumoto（Okayama University） Hiroya Yamano（University of Tokyo） Shinya Watanabe（Nanzan University） |
| Collaborators | Hiroaki Kuze（Chiba University） Akira Seike（Okayama University） Satoshi Tanahashi（Ochanomizu University） Naoko Fukayama（Tokyo Metropolitan University） Yuko Miyazaki（Okayama University） Yuji Yamaguchi（Tokushima University） Joseph Ryan（Okayama University） |
| B01 Behavior & System: Limitations and possibilities of human cognitive abilities, mechanism of a major shift in cognitive abilities | |
| Principal Investigator | Hideyuki Ōnishi（Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts） |
| Co-investigators | Shingo Odani（Chiba University） Hiroshi Kondo（Tsuda University） Kenji Nagai（Aichi Gakuin University） Seiji Nakao（Kyoto University） Hiromi Hirakawa（Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties） Mikako Yamaguchi（Hokkaido University） |
| Collaborators | Asami Tsukuda（Okayama University） Yumi Tanaka（Hokkaido University） Eri Koda（Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts） |
| B02 Art & Emotion: Integration of cognitive science and historical science for a new understanding of behavior, brain, and culture | |
| Principal Investigator | Hideaki Kawabata（Keio University） |
| Co-investigators | Jun Saiki（Kyoto University） Aya Saito（Kyoto University of the Arts） Teruaki Yoshida（Tokai University） Shinya Fujii（Keio University） Masashi Tanaka（Waseda University） |
| C01 Gene & Culture: Evolutionary biological basis of “humanness,” modeling of new evolutionary causal structure | |
| Principal Investigator | Shinya Yamamoto（Kyoto University） |
| Co-investigators | Atsushi Iriki（Teikyo University） Mizuki Oka（Chiba Institute of Technology） Yohsuke Ohtsubo（University of Tokyo） Keiko Ishii（Nagoya University） Azusa Kamikouchi（Nagoya University） |
| Collaborators | Ikuma Adachi（Kyoto University） Shogo Tanaka（Tokai University） Ryoya Tanaka（Nagoya University） Masahiro Matsunaga（Aichi Medical University） Miho Murayama（Kyoto University） |
| C02 Representation & Modeling: Systematic acquisition of 3D models, quantitative analysis, and modeling of the formation of Materia-Mind | |
| Principal Investigator | Nakao Hisashi（Nanzan Univesity） |
| Co-investigators | Akihiro Kaneda（Mie University） Kohei Tamura（Tohoku University） Tomomi Nakagawa（Nagoya University） |
| Collaborators | Koji Noshita（Kyushu University） Kai Tateuchi（Tohoku University） |
| Advisory Board | |
| Juichi Yamagiwa（Research Institute for Humanity and Nature） Mariko Hasegawa（Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science） Tetsuya Muroyama（Japanese Association of Science and Technology Journalists） Goto Akira（Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences） Sander van der Leeuw（Santa Fe Institute） |
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