A Real Science of Mind英.docx

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1、ARea1ScienceofMindByTY1ERBURGEThCStOn。isaforumforcontemporaryphi1osophersonissuesbothtime1yandtime1ess.Tags:Brain,EyeSandEyesight,Neuroscience,PhiIosophy,PSyChOIOgyandPSyChOIogiStSInrecentyearspopu1arsciencewritinghasbombardeduswithtiti11atingreportsofdiscoveriesofthebrain,spsycho1ogica1prowess.Such

2、reportsinvadeevenintroductorypatterinbio1ogyandpsycho1ogy.Weareto1dthatthebrain一orsomeareaofitsees,decides,reasons,knows,emotes,isa1truistic/egotistica1,orwantstomake1ove.Forexamp1e,arecentartic1ereportsaresearcher,s1ookingat1ove,quite1itera11y,withtheaidofanMRImachine.,Onewonderswhether1ovemakingis

3、tooccurbetweentwobrains,orbetweenabrainandahumanbeing.Therearethreethingswrongwiththista1k.First,itprovides1itt1einsightintopsycho1ogica1phenomena.Oftenthediscoveriesamounttofindingstrongeractivationinsomeareaofthebrainwhenapsycho1ogica1phenomenonoccurs.Asifitisnewsthatthebrainisnotdormantduringpsyc

4、ho1ogica1activity!Thereportedneuroscienceisoftendescriptiveratherthanexp1anatory.Experimentshaveshownthatneurobabb1eproducesthei11usionofunderstanding.But1itt1eofitissufficient1ydetai1edtoaid,much1essprovide,psycho1ogica1exp1anation.Theideathattheneura1canrep1acethepsycho1ogica1isthesameideathat1edt

5、othinkingthata11psycho1ogica1i11scanbecuredwithdrugs.Second,brains-in-1oveta1kconf1ates1eve1sofexp1anation.Neurobabb1epiquesinterestinscience,butobscureshowscienceworks.Individua1ssee,know,andwanttomake1ove.Brainsdon,t.Thosethingsarepsycho1ogica1not,inanyevidentway,neura1.Brainactivityisnecessaryfor

6、psycho1ogica1phenomena,butitsre1ationtothemiscomp1ex.Imaginethatreportsofthemid-20-CentUrybreakthroughsinbio1ogyhadfocusedentire1yonquantummechanica1interactionsamonge1ementarypartic1es.Imaginethatthereportsneg1ectedtodiscussthestructureorfunctionsofDNA.Inheritancewou1dnothavebeenunderstood.The1eve1

7、ofexp1anationwou1dhavebeenwrong.Quantummechanics1acksanotionoffunction,anditsre1ationtobio1ogyistoocomp1extorep1acebio1ogica1understanding.Tounderstandbio1ogy,onemustthinkinbio1ogica1terms.Discussingpsycho1ogyinneura1termsmakesasimi1armistake.Exp1anationsofneura1phenomenaarenotthemse1vesexp1anations

8、ofpsycho1ogica1phenomena.Someexpecttheneura11eve1torep1acethepsycho1ogica11eve1.Thisexpectationisasnaiveasexpectingasing1ecureforcancer.Scienceisa1mostneversosimp1e.SeeJohnC1eeseSaptSPoofOfSUChreductionism.Thethirdthingwrongwithneurobabb1eisthatithasperniciousfeedbackeffectsonscienceitse1f.Toomuchim

9、maturesciencehasreceivedmassivefunding,ontheassumptionthatiti11uminatespsycho1ogy.Theideathattheneura1canrep1acethepsycho1ogica1isthesameideathat1edtothinkingthata11psycho1ogica1i11scanbecuredwithdrugs.Perceptua1psycho1ogy,notneuroscience,shou1dbegrabbinghead1ines.Corre1ationsbetween1oca1izedneura1a

10、ctivityandspecificpsycho1ogica1phenomenaareimportantfacts.Buttheymere1ysetthestageforexp1anation.Beingpure1ydescriptive,theyexp1ainnothing.Somecorre1ationsdoaidpsycho1ogica1exp1anation.Forexamp1e,identifyingneura1eventsunder1yingvisionconstrainsexp1anationsoftiminginpsycho1ogica1processesandhashe1pe

11、dpredictpsycho1ogica1effects.Wewi11understandboththecorre1ationsandthepsycho1ogy,however,on1ythroughpsycho1ogica1exp1anation.Scientificexp1anationisourbestguidetounderstandingthewor1d.Byref1ectingonit,we1earnbetterwhatweunderstandaboutthewor1d.Neurobabb1e,spopu1aritystemspart1yfromtheviewthatpsycho1

12、ogy,sexp1anationsareimmaturecomparedtoneuroscience.Somepsycho1ogyisindeedsti11farfromrigorous.Butneurobabb1emissesanimportantfact.Apowerfu1,distinctive1ypsycho1ogica1sciencematuredoverthe1astfourdecades.Perceptua1psycho1ogy,pre-eminent1yvisionscience,shou1dbegrabbinghead1ines.Thisscienceismoreadvanc

13、edthanmanybio1ogica1sciences,inc1udingmuchneuroscience.Itisthefirstsciencetoexp1ainpsycho1ogica1processeswithmathematica1rigorindistinctive1ypsycho1ogica1terms.(Generative1inguisticsanotherre1ative1ymaturepsycho1ogica1science一exp1ainspsycho1ogica1structuresbetterthanpsycho1ogica1processes.)ErinSche1

14、1Whataredistinctive1ypsycho1ogica1terms?Psycho1ogyisdistinctiveinbeingascienceofrepresentation.Thetermurepresentation,hasagenericuseandamorespecificusethatisdistinctive1ypsycho1ogica1.Istartwiththegenericuse,andwi11returntothedistinctive1ypsycho1ogica1use.Statesofanorganismgenerica11yrepresentfeatur

15、esoftheenvironmentiftheyfunctiontocorre1atewiththem.Ap1antorbacteriumgenerica11yrepresentsthedirectionof1ight.Statesinvo1vedingrowthormovementfunctiona11ycorre1atewith1ight,sdirection.Task-focusedexp1anationsinbio1ogyandpsycho1ogyoftenuserepresent,generica11y,andproceedasfo11ows.Theyidentifyanatura1

16、taskforanorganism.Theythenmeasureenvironmenta1propertiesre1evanttothetask,andconstraintsimposedbytheorganism,sbio-physica1make-up.Next,theydeterminemathematica11yoptima1performanceofthetask,giventheenvironmenta1propertiesandtheorganism,sconstraints.Fina11y,theydeve1ophypothesesandtesttheorganism,sfu1fi11mentofthetaskagainstoptima1performance.Thisapproachidentifiessystematiccorre1ationsbetweenorganisms,statesandenvironmenta1properties.Suchcorre1