Maturationally Natural Cognition and Radically Counter-Intuitive Science Robert N. McCauley Center...
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Transcript of Maturationally Natural Cognition and Radically Counter-Intuitive Science Robert N. McCauley Center...
Maturationally Natural Cognition Maturationally Natural Cognition and and
Radically Counter-Intuitive ScienceRadically Counter-Intuitive Science
Robert N. McCauley Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture
Emory University
http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~philrnm/
Maturationally Natural Cognition Maturationally Natural Cognition and and
Radically Counter-Intuitive ScienceRadically Counter-Intuitive Science
1. philosophical and psychological preliminaries
2. maturationally natural cognition
3. radically counter-intuitive science
4. maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence
part 1: philosophical preliminaries:part 1: philosophical preliminaries:two comments on theory ladennesstwo comments on theory ladenness
1. whatever they are, scientific
theories are selective
2. two varieties of theory
ladenness (at least)
part 1: psychological preliminaries:part 1: psychological preliminaries:dual processing theoriesdual processing theories
reflective vs. intuitive
off-line on-line
conscious unconscious
deliberate automatic
slow fast
verbal non-verbal (mostly)
part 1: psychological preliminariespart 1: psychological preliminariesintuitive cognitionintuitive cognition
specific beliefs or actions that arise automatically and instantaneously and are held or done without reflection
1. general, commonsense notion
2. presumed sound, though underdetermined
3. declarative and procedural
4. two sources
part 2: maturationally natural cognitionpart 2: maturationally natural cognition
1. address basic problems
2. appear early
3. define normal development
4. do not depend on any culturally distinctive support
5. constitute domain specific systems at the end, if not at the beginning
6. engage when triggered by distinctive cues
part 2: maturationally natural cognitionpart 2: maturationally natural cognitionsome candidate domainssome candidate domains
language
face recognition
part 2: maturationally natural cognitionpart 2: maturationally natural cognitionsome candidate domainssome candidate domains
language
face recognition
basic physics of solid objects
theory of mind
contamination avoidance
part 3: radically counter-intuitive part 3: radically counter-intuitive sciencescience
the sciences reliably advance (usually sooner rather than later) representations that are radically counter-intuitive
i.e., these representations depart drastically from the deliverances of our maturationally natural perceptual and cognitive systems
1582 illustration of impetus 1582 illustration of impetus theory by Walther Hermann theory by Walther Hermann
Ryff which divides the Ryff which divides the trajectory into 3 phases trajectory into 3 phases
part 4: maturationally natural influences part 4: maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence and the implications of their persistence
re: Churchland’s project
(1) for reflective theories superseding implicit, maturationally natural theories (especially with regard to perception)
(2) for achieving widespread scientific expertise
-- persisting (intrusive!) maturationally natural (theoretical) assumptions
-- difficulties assessing probabilistic evidence
-- inferential foibles
-- confirmation bias
part 4: maturationally natural influences part 4: maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence and the implications of their persistence
re: Fodor’s project for a theory-neutral, observational foundation
of scientific knowledge
“. . . insensitivity to local alterations in beliefs and utilities is . . . a necessary condition for the theory neutrality of observation. . . . what seems to be required is just enough diachronic encapsulation to allow perceptual consensus to survive the effects of the kinds of differences of learning histories that observers actually exhibit.”
Fodor, J. (1988). “A Reply to Churchland’s “Perceptual Plasticity and Theoretical Neutrality,”” Philosophy of Science 55, 192.
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part 4: maturationally natural influences part 4: maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence and the implications of their persistence
perceptual input systems :: linguistic input system
Both their development and ultimate forms may be substantially shaped by cultural inputs. Thus:
1. they are theory laden
2. they are not uniform