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On Thinking and Reasoning
stuff On knowing things, and how we get there
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article
The 'naming' problem, where by naming something we feel we have explained it,
the 'language' problem, where the words we use stop others from
understanding, and the 'question' problem, where we fail to find the right
questions, are common and funny.
article
The 'Great Man' theory of history has the history of ideas moved forward by
individuals. But by thinking of these as 'Great Ideas', or better 'spirits'
of ideas, we're encouraged to examine their motivations, which is surprisingly effective.
article
Neurons link into 'pathways' that map perceptions to actions. But, neural
pathways don't just link one thing to one other thing---each pathway is
involved at many things at once. So to change one, you have to also contend
with all the rest.
article
Social media use probably isn't the problem. Social media use is probably
just the most obvious manifestation of lots of problems. And in fact,
social media could probably be a solution. It's up to you.
article
The brain almost certainly has many processes that contribute to any
decision. Here we have one that cares about what it sees, and maybe another
process that decides what to do about what it sees.