Description: You have heard, I hope, of the supposed power of providing random acts of kindness to others, even strangers, haven’t you? However, have thought much about why that might be a good thin g to do? We may have heard from parents, teachers and others that it is a good thing to be kind… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Language-Thought
Sentience, Ethics, and Octopuses: Recent Thoughts
Description: What does sentient mean? Its dictionary definition typical says something like responsive to and conscious of sense impressions; aware; conscious. We (us humans) are sentient, though there was a time when we believe that infant humans were not (we DO think they ARE sentient now). A huge part of how we manage or are… Read more »
Mental Health Thermometers
Description: You drop into your doctor’s office and tell them you are not feeling well. Assuming COVID is not the issue (which would likely be picked up at the front desk of the clinic using screening questions) what is one of the first things the doctor will likely do? Take you temperature, right? (Or ask… Read more »
Psychological Drivers of Misinformation Belief: A Not So New But Critical Topic
Description: Given our direct and media shared experiences surrounding recent events such as the COVID pandemic, American elections and related capital events, climate change and much else you cannot be unaware of the phenomenon of misinformation and related beliefs. You may be aware of concerns over social media “echo chambers” that become sole sources for… Read more »
(Ir)rational Thinking and How (Not) to Do It
Description: I am willing to bet that you think of yourself as a reasonable, rational, thoughtful person and that you do feel that you get emotionally caught up in situations and circumstances in ways that might negatively impact your ability to make rational decisions. It IS true that people (adults in particular) CAN be quite… Read more »
A Neural Mechanism of Advanced Cognition
Description: Research into what happens in your brain when you try and memorize a new fact or procedure has traditionally focused upon the activity or the firing of individual neurons. One event that has been hard to explain using single neuron theories involves what happens when you teach someone a strategy or a mnemonic for… Read more »
Forecasting Experts versus Amatuers: Who Wins?
Description: How well do you think you would do in the following situation? You are asked to predict how likely a number of world events are to occur (from 0 to 100%). Question may include: Will North Korea launch a nuclear missile in the next year? Or Is Greece going to leave the European Union… Read more »
Critical Thinking: What Can We Learn from Aaron Rodgers?
Description: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, instead of getting vaccinated against Covid-19 followed an immune system strengthening regime (not entirely proven effective) and, when asked if he was vaccinated said he was immunized but avoided any mention of vaccination. Rodgers claimed be is not a flat-earther or an anti-vaxer but that he IS a… Read more »
How are Tool Use and Speech Processing Related?
Description: Ok here is a question. What do tool use and spoken language syntax have in common? No idea? I do not blame you. What if I provided you with a hint (a bit of data) suggesting that the two are correlated AND that training in one of them (tool use OR processing complex spoken… Read more »
Challenges of Studying Wandering and Sleeping Minds
Description: Think of a time when you were doing something really boring (perhaps in a lecture or at a family gathering) and see if you can think about a time in one of those situations where your mind wandered and you lost track of what was going on around you, perhaps to the extent that… Read more »
Books for Success!
