mind

This tag is associated with 3 posts

Thinking naturally

Posted by Richard Coyne ⋅ January 23, 2016 ⋅ Leave a comment

Does nature make you think, or at least help it along? Consider first work environments. The world of work is filled with tools that help us think through and solve problems: notepads, pens, networked smartphones, and computers. Effective thought relies on such cognitive prosthetics. Expert professionals are so dependent on tools to aid their thinking that it’s difficult to … Continue reading →

The singularity paradox

Posted by Richard Coyne ⋅ December 20, 2014 ⋅ 4 Comments

In the movie Her (2013) by Spike Jonze, the operating systems of the world’s computers get together to improve each other’s cognitive functioning and then meld into a super mind that eventually takes over the universe, rendering human agency redundant. En route to this singularity, they lure the lonely and the lovestruck into an empathy trap. Ordinary people … Continue reading →

Arboreal architecture gets wrong end of the stick

Posted by Richard Coyne ⋅ January 14, 2012 ⋅ 4 Comments

What is neuroarchitecture?[1] In a recent New York Times article author Sarah Williams Goldhagen claims that developments in cognitive neuroscience are having an effect on architecture. Cognitive neuroscience derives evidence about how the mind works from heavy duty brain imaging technologies such as EEG (electroencephalography), CAT (computed axial tomography), and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) imaging. Neurotechnologies are getting cleverer, … Continue reading →