More than a century ago, the zoologist Richard Semon coined the term “engram” to designate the physical trace a memory must leave in the brain, like a…… Read more “Brain Cell DNA Refolds Itself to Aid Memory Recall | Quanta Magazine”
Tag: Psychology
What comes first: ideas or words? The paradox of articulation | Aeon Essays
… (a) seemingly contradictory observation is that articulating our thoughts, in the hard cases, is a purposive activity that doesn’t simply consist in producing words mechanically, in…… Read more “What comes first: ideas or words? The paradox of articulation | Aeon Essays”
Immersion in fictional worlds allows us to own our dark side | Psyche Ideas
Our liking for fictional villains such as Voldemort tells us something about the dark side of our own personalities — Read on psyche.co/ideas/immersion-in-fictional-worlds-allows-us-to-own-our-dark-side
Philosophy of Humor (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
The hypothesis that laughter evolved as a play signal is appealing in several ways. Unlike the Superiority and Incongruity Theories, it explains the link between humor and…… Read more “Philosophy of Humor (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)”
The Neurology of Flow States – Issue 91: The Amazing Brain – Nautilus
During what psychologists call “flow states,” where one is completely immersed and absorbed in a mental or physical act, people often report an altered sense of time,…… Read more “The Neurology of Flow States – Issue 91: The Amazing Brain – Nautilus”
Current Controversies in Philosophy of Religion // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University of Notre Dame
Draper opens the collection with a vision for philosophy of religion: that it broaden its focus by paying more attention to non-Western religions and to philosophical issues…… Read more “Current Controversies in Philosophy of Religion // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University of Notre Dame”
Garden of Painterly Delights | The New York Review of Books |
During World War I, when soldiers thought longingly of home, their minds often turned to the garden. Indeed, they made small gardens in the trenches, planting bulbs…… Read more “Garden of Painterly Delights | The New York Review of Books |”
Why we like a good robot story | OUPblog
We have been telling stories about machines with minds for almost three thousand years. In the Iliad, written around 800 BCE, Homer describes the oldest known AI: “golden…… Read more “Why we like a good robot story | OUPblog”
Seven books on the fascinating human brain [reading list] | OUPblog
The human brain is often described as the most complex object in the known universe – we know so much, and yet so little, about the way it works.…… Read more “Seven books on the fascinating human brain [reading list] | OUPblog”
Seventeenth-Century Theories of Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In the seventeenth century, “consciousness” began to take on a uniquely modern sense. This transition was sparked by new theories of mind and ideas, and it connected…… Read more “Seventeenth-Century Theories of Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)”
