Month: May 2012

tweets

Tweets for 2012-05-31

If you could build a human scale visual illusion in a public space, which would it be? #
If you could build a human scale visual illusion in a public space, which would it be? Have an opportunity in central Sheffield… #
For an insight into the power and ubiquity of adaptation, see this column by @MarkChangizi over at Discover http://t.co/X8tOqbe1 #
RT @vaughanbell The trouble with fMRI: I’ve written a piece for The Observer about ‘the trouble with brain scans’… http://t.co/K7WuAlKu #
Monday morning people: Don't miss @vaughanbell on fMRI in the Observer http://t.co/jWD2fxSp follow-up http://t.co/AIOPIvTk #
My column for @BBC_Future now up at http://t.co/85RrPPSd : Hypnic Jerks http://t.co/xizlC97h #
"If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts." Kurt Vonnegut #
No evidence that monkeys will learn to play a synthesizer http://t.co/7LuJC4bp via @thundercauldron #
Needed: social sci. researcher to advise exciting project on maps and creative engagement http://t.co/syn4n510 cc @mindfulmaps #
"Eye movements reveal rapid concurrent access to factual and counterfactual interpretations of the world" http://t.co/gXOL53k9 #
Vital @vaughanbell What Is the “Bible of Psychiatry” Supposed to Do? The Peculiar Challenges of an Uncertain Science http://t.co/jELmeYU8 #
Trialing two new organising tools: http://t.co/irNLyn6R and http://t.co/QpDjVxvn. Checkvist most elegant, trello better for groups #
Does anyone know if the kindle is any good for reading PDFs (ie academic papers)? #
So it sounds like Kindle-PDF suitability is …mixed #

tweets

Tweets for 2012-05-24

My critique of the "is this feminist?" blog doesn't fit in 140 characters. PROBLEMATIC http://t.co/oMxv249v #
Now up on http://t.co/85Rwnq1n – my @BBC_Future column: Why your brain loves to tune out http://t.co/i96mxFJk #
Loving the knowledgable and generous comments on my column on adaptation reposted at mindhacks http://t.co/i96mxFJk #
Contact Juggler provides masterclass in manipulating correlation in time and space to give illusion of causation http://t.co/Sxi2QPxc #
"Pingus is a free Lemmings-like puzzle game covered under the GNU GPL." http://t.co/mMW7F5oe #
Sheffield's Dept of Philosophy announce @drangiehobbs as new Fellow for the Public Understanding of Philosophy http://t.co/jGk9vCOY #
My latest column for @BBC_Future: "Why your body jerks before you fall asleep" http://t.co/cEpYTwCx #

tweets

Tweets for 2012-05-17

Today i would like to see a country by country comparison of per capita GDP adjusted for average annual working hours. Kthxbi #
markets are as fundamental as conversation RT @TimHarford: Rules of trading in a prisoner of war camp: http://t.co/WPdAymE9 #
Morning all. If you have a brain quirk or mental curio you'd like to read a column on, let me know. Past columns here http://t.co/sBrs5sLj #

tweets

Tweets for 2012-05-17

Today i would like to see a country by country comparison of per capita GDP adjusted for average annual working hours. Kthxbi #
markets are as fundamental as conversation RT @TimHarford: Rules of trading in a prisoner of war camp: http://t.co/WPdAymE9 #
Morning all. If you have a brain quirk or mental curio you'd like to read a column on, let me know. Past columns here http://t.co/sBrs5sLj #

tweets

Tweets for 2012-05-17

Today i would like to see a country by country comparison of per capita GDP adjusted for average annual working hours. Kthxbi #
markets are as fundamental as conversation RT @TimHarford: Rules of trading in a prisoner of war camp: http://t.co/WPdAymE9 #
Morning all. If you have a brain quirk or mental curio you'd like to read a column on, let me know. Past columns here http://t.co/sBrs5sLj #

tweets

Tweets for 2012-05-10

Soho, london #
Fascinating: The Geographical Flow of Music http://t.co/LmKynhow cc @mikedewar @emmafraggle #
.@stevenpoole slams @jonahlehrer's book on creativity as superficial neuroscientism http://t.co/98z46NJD Lehrer retorts http://t.co/E6U382kB #
Do I know any any mental health informatics types? http://t.co/CTKuo7jY #job #london #
My column for @BBC_Future "Why the brain loves to tune out" http://t.co/IcTA82LP (uk readable version) #
Basically, I am never happier than when writing about the brain's fundamental computational principles…. #
…And making people do weird stuff with their eyes http://t.co/IcTA82LP #
Richly deserved! RT @vaughanbell: Weirdly, I have won a journalism prize – for blogging http://t.co/b30e4DJ8 #
Advance warning: going to be leading an urban Mind Hacks treasure hunt in Berlin on 11th of July. More soon. #
Classic: disappointed fans in Sheffield after Dylan went electric "Bob Dylan was a bastard in the second half" http://t.co/Y3E8oxuY #
RT @Neuro_Skeptic Juvenile delinquents "hardly convinced that their crime was caused by features of their brain" http://t.co/y3l3KSeb #

idiocy intellectual self-defence

The Natures of Explanation

Post author By tom
Post date May 9, 2012
2 Comments on The Natures of Explanation

(Attention conservation notice: mostly me trying to work out what I mean. If you know, feel free to get in touch)

Explanation is not a zero-sum game. You can add additional explanations without negating existing explanations. The loss of life after the flooding of New Orleans was due to Hurricane Katrina. And it was due to climate change. And under-investment in the levees. And a history of social exclusion based on race and class. All these explanations are true, there is no explanatory exclusivity.

I am reading Bruno Latour’s “Science in Action” where he gives the best (only?) account I have seen of how any explanation can be countered or superseded by subsequent explanations. Scientists seek to settle claims – to generate “black boxes” of fact, in Latour’s terms – but the process of scientific debate sees a flux of competing explanations. An experiment by A said X. But two experiments by Y said not-X. But Y isn’t using the correct equipment, of course his experiments give the wrong results. But X’s equipment is biased to give the answer X, Y has to use non-standard equipment. But Z has shown not-X with A’s equipment for sub-case Z. And so on. Explanations seek to settle, but can always be weakened by subsequent explanations which qualify, reframe or negate. It is not just that subsequent claims diminish our confidence that X is the case, on some linear scale where 0>confidence>1. Instead, there is a fundamental uncertainty in the very metrics we are judging.

We seek to define or find (domains) where exclusivity applies. Responsibility and blame feels like a domain where exclusivity applies – almost by definition, because we want it to apply. If it was my fault it is not your fault. We want blame to sum to 1, so that even in complex cases we sort through the responsibility of all involved an apportion a limited amount of blame to each party.

Obviously, when non-exclusive explanations originating from science are used in the moral domain, it is natural for people to interpret them exclusively. If your brain or your environment made you commit a crime, it is not your fault. In a similar way – perhaps essentially similar – freedom of the will is often talked about as an exclusive property. Is your choice at the moment free OR is it pre-determined? This is a fundamental misconception, in my opinion.

You need a tolerance for ambiguity to deal in non-exclusive explanations. Usually we seek to find a restricted domain where we can argue over explanations which are, temporarily, exclusive. Is it nature or nurture? Is dyslexia caused by cerebellar dysfunction or magnocellular pathway dysfunction? For the non-restricted domain the ground can always shift underneath you. Someone can come along a redefine any element of what you are arguing about, including the tools of argument themselves.

tweets

Tweets for 2012-05-03

My @BBC_Future column on earworms is now on http://t.co/85Rwnq1n http://t.co/MPG5KvYL how to breed them, care for them, and get rid of them! #
Archive classic. Dement (1960) The Effects of Dream Deprivation http://t.co/EQQYWAVT"anxiety, irritability, and difficulty in concentrating" #
In other news, I'm trying to find something to read about dream incorporation, where external stimuli get woven into the dream. Any clues? #
Psych people: can you recommend any refs on the phenomenon of incorporation of external stimuli into dreams? #
Humans who have never seen a dog can tell if it is afraid from the sound of its bark http://t.co/V5H9wqQ9 #
US Citizens – apply for a Fulbright scholarship to undertake research and/or teaching in beautiful Sheffield, England! http://t.co/LRukiwzX #
The cyclo.id album is awesome. If you like maths-techno http://t.co/UoPzzclF #
Nick's journey finds him staying at an asylum … RT @underscrutiny: Objects, like people… http://t.co/NV4QQb9z #
Does teh interwebs rewire my brain? http://t.co/kmdMoCsa I can has relax now? #
Perfect one line summary! RT @marvel_matt Type of online activity – not internet use itself – will drive any changes http://t.co/1tDhYYCd #
Speaking of techno-panic, am happy to say I come top for a google search of "why Sherry Turkle is so wrong" http://t.co/1aPYQnAF #
Experience the hypnotic beauty of travel in the University of Sheffield's paternoster lift http://t.co/7nEppXEV #