This lecture from Steven Pinker has been around for a while, but it seems to get at a question a few people have asked me recently: how does the information processing of neurons and synapses lead to conscious perception? Pinker doesn't answer this question comprehensively (that would require a vast series of lectures), but he answers facets of … Continue reading Steven Pinker: From neurons to consciousness
Category: Zeitgeist
Why fears of an AI apocalypse are misguided
In this Big Think video, Steven Pinker makes a point I've made before, that fear of artificial intelligence comes with a deep misunderstanding about the relationship between intelligence and motivation. Human minds come with survival instincts, programmatic goals hammered out by hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Artificial intelligence isn't going to have those … Continue reading Why fears of an AI apocalypse are misguided
Kindle Oasis: a quick review
I read a lot of books, and as I've posted about before, the lion share of those books these days are Kindle e-books. E-books aren't for everyone, but for the last several years they've been my preferred way to consume a book. I love the way I can buy a book and immediately start reading it, the … Continue reading Kindle Oasis: a quick review
Split brain does not lead to split consciousness – University of Amsterdam
I've talked before about Roger Perry's famous split-brain patient experiments. Patients with severe epileptic seizures used to undergo a collosotomy, a procedure to cut the connections between the left and right hemispheres of their cerebrum. It often helped alleviate their symptoms and, remarkably, the patients afterward remained mentally functional, at least to outside appearances. Each hemisphere … Continue reading Split brain does not lead to split consciousness – University of Amsterdam
Being a beast machine
In my post on consciousness possibly being a simulation engine, I noted Anil Seth's excellent Aeon article as one of the inspirations. As it turns out, Seth talked at a TEDx conference and covered many of the same topics he addressed in that article. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1syDjtlMGbo As noted in my post, I think a lot of … Continue reading Being a beast machine
Two brain science podcasts worth checking out
As my long time readers will know, I'm very interested in the mind, and my preferred way to explore it is through science, notably neuroscience or cognitive psychology, or with science oriented philosophy. With that in mind, I want to call your attention to a couple of podcasts I've been following for a while. The … Continue reading Two brain science podcasts worth checking out
Merry Christmas
Real Clear Science highlighted an interesting article from a few years ago on the evolution of Santa Claus: Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up? We always think of Santa Claus as an incredibly old man—positively ancient—but the fact is, he’s exactly 150-years-old, born in 1863. Indeed, we might be thinking of Santa’s predecessor St. … Continue reading Merry Christmas
Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains
I came across this old TED talk today and decided to share it because it's relevant to the previous post on consciousness and simulations. Daniel Wolpert's talk doesn't address consciousness specifically, only the overall role of the simulations, but it's still a fascinating exploration of what we're doing when our attention is focused on a … Continue reading Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains
Lessons from the election of 1824 and Silvio Berlusconi
Understandably, a lot of people continue to be upset about the results of this election. One thing that keeps coming up in my feeds are people advocating for the electoral college to change that result. The idea is that if 37 Republican electors can be convinced to change their vote, Trump can be prevented from … Continue reading Lessons from the election of 1824 and Silvio Berlusconi
Why Trump won, and a calmer assessment of the situation
The filmmaker Michael Moore, who had predicted a Trump win several months ago, went on Morning Joe on Friday and discussed why Trump won. It was painful to watch, but the main point that struck home was when Moore pointed out that many Trump voters were previously Obama voters. What this tells me is that we … Continue reading Why Trump won, and a calmer assessment of the situation
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