Deric Bownds
These articles, from Deric's MindBlog at http://mindblog.dericbownds.net report new ideas and work on mind, brain, and behavior - as well as random curious stuff.
MY BLOGS
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Deric Bownds' MindBlog
http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/
This blog reports new ideas and work on mind, brain, and behavior - as well as random curious stuff.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 2494 )
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Critical Comment on Pinker's "Enlightenment Now"
In this final post on Pinker’s new book, “Enlightenment Now” I want to note several reviews that offer reservations about the book (and offer a few responses),... Read more
Posted on 12 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Pinker on Humanism and Human Flourishing.
These clips from the last chapter (chapter 23) of Pinker's new book "Enlightenment Now" conclude my passing on of some of the ideas from the book. Please read... Read more
Posted on 09 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Pinker on Reason, and Our Presumed Post-truth Era
The last section, part III, of Pinker's new book "Enlightenment Now" is titled Reason, Science, and Humanism. Here I pass on a few clips from Chapter 21,... Read more
Posted on 08 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
The Future of Progress - Return to the Middle Ages, Or Continuing Upward Curve?
Continuing the series of posts on Pinker's new book "Enlightenment Now", I want to pass on clips from the last chapter (Chapter 20) of part II of the book,... Read more
Posted on 07 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Pinker on Progress
This post is my third installment of summarizing or passing on bits of Pinker’s new book “Enlightenment Now”. The previous installments dealt with Pinker’s... Read more
Posted on 06 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Progressophobia
In this post I continue to pass on brief clips from Pinker's new book "Enlightenment Now" that I found most fascinating. The following is from Part II of the... Read more
Posted on 05 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Two Very Different Worlds to Live In.
On the same day that I read yet another depressing article in the New York Times - Thomas Edsall on the increasing polarization and demonization in our... Read more
Posted on 02 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Pinker's "Enlightenment Now" - a Must Read Book
I recommend Pinker's new book to all MindBlog readers as an refreshing antidote to the drumbeat of popular press articles bemoaning our world's potential... Read more
Posted on 01 March 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Culture of Empathy
While approving comments submitted on a MindBlog post, I always go back and read the post. (I have to vet comments, because most are designed to get clicks on... Read more
Posted on 28 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Computerized Gaydar - a Threat to Privacy and Safety of Gay People
My Oct. 13, 2017 post dealt with controversy over an article referenced as forthcoming that showed neural networks to be more accurate than humans at detecting... Read more
Posted on 27 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Amygdala Structure and Defense of the Social System.
Nam et al. examine the neuroanatomical substrates of preferences for maintaining existing social arrangements. Individual variation in preferences to maintain... Read more
Posted on 26 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Our Microbiome Challenges Our Concept of Self.
Rees et al. offer an interesting perspective on the significance of our microbiome. Their abstract: Today, the three classical biological explanations of the... Read more
Posted on 23 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
When Our Eyes Move, Our Eardrums Move.
Interesting stuff from Gruters et al.: Significance The peripheral hearing system contains several motor mechanisms that allow the brain to modify the auditory... Read more
Posted on 22 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Human Cooperation in Dynamic Networks.
Melamed et al. show that the emergence of cooperative networks of humans does not require knowledge of the reputations of participants, only the severing of tie... Read more
Posted on 21 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Welcome to the Post Text Future (of the New Authoritarian State?)
White males (and the republican party) seem to perceive that the most effective way to maintain their current prominence as they continue to become a minority o... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Ancient Origins of Walking on Land - the Walking Skate.
From Jung et al., in the Feb. 8 issue of Cell, report finding that the circuits underlying vertebrate ambulation on dry land appear in a skate many millions of... Read more
Posted on 19 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Computers No Better Than Humans at Predicting Who Should Go to Jail.
I want to point to two pieces that offer a commentary on our trust in using algorithms to predict human behavior rather than old fashioned human judgement. In... Read more
Posted on 16 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Afraid of A.I.? Be Very Afraid of Quantum Computing....
Several recent articles point to a quiet revolution that is receiving relatively little notice - the development of quantum computers that may operate 100,000... Read more
Posted on 15 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
A Valentine's Day Musical Offering - Respighi's Intermezzo Serenata
A piano transcription by Respighi of the Intermezzo Serenata from his comic opera Re Enzo. Making a recording of a piano piece I like motivates me to learn it ... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Mind Treats on the Web.
This MindBlog is a miniscule drop in a large internet pond of excellent and interesting sites describing new mind research and ideas. I am aware of only a... Read more
Posted on 13 February 2018 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE