As I prepare to finish a half-written book on the human mind, I’m reviewing some of my earlier writings from my two blogs. I’m posting links to four essays which seem to me to be fundamental to my explanations of how to understand of that strange entity, the human mind. 1. The modern world as … [Read more…]
Near the end of this amusing article, In Physics, Telling Cranks from Experts Ain’t Easy, John Horgan raises an interesting point about theories of physics: Great scientists are great because they discern patterns in the flux of nature that elude us ordinary mortals; we should not be surprised when some patterns turn out to be … [Read more…]
In a faraway region of spacetime, I asked the question: Is this evidence against free-will?, where I start by noting: Over the past decade or more, neuroscientists have found strong evidence that we start to act before we’re consciously aware of our own actions. This is a problem to those who believe in free-will in … [Read more…]
I don’t think it matters much that there is reason to believe Human Brains Unlikely to Evolve Into a ‘Supermind’ as Price to Pay Would Be Too High. The brains of individuals might not evolve much while still allowing a substantial amount of advancement in the minds which form and also draw upon a human … [Read more…]
In several weblog entries, starting with A Thomistic Take on Madness and Modernism, I’ve spoken of the insight of the psychologist and polymath Louis Sass that there is an eerie similarity between schizophrenia and modern styles of art, literature, and thought. I’d highly recommend a serious read of Madness and Modernity: Insanity in the Light … [Read more…]
[In this essay, I’m suggesting a speculative framework and not any cures for these serious disorders of the human mind and soul. At the same time, this framework — if appropriate — would guide researchers and clinicians in developing palliatives or cures. Mostly, I’m pursuing my goal of understanding the human mind as the immaterial … [Read more…]
Or rather, our moral disorder lies outside of us because we inhabit morally disordered human communities. But let me start from a ways back… Recently, I posted an article about some hormonal matters which work from our insides to shape our personality characteristics — The Resurrected Will Need to Be Flooded With Oxytocin and Vasopresin. … [Read more…]
I’ve finished reading Thomas S. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions but I continue to think about the issues he raised. Some of his attempts to make sense of these “scientific revolutions” involve efforts to make sense of the language used by various groups of scientists. When talking about the need to use a assumption-loaded … [Read more…]
There’s a review, Language and spandrels, at the weblog of John Hawks which discusses the question: “How can there be one grammatical structure for all human beings if there is no known way to see selective pressures for the rules of grammar?” As the review notes, the famous linguist Noam Chomsky did a lot of … [Read more…]
I’ve just finished reading Thomas S. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. He’s quite aware of the objective nature of reality but he speaks of major changes in understanding of the world leaving scientists (or others in different conversations) as if in a new world. Elsewhere he speaks a bit more reasonably of the scientist … [Read more…]