Hi, level 7 atheist skeptic here, I'm curious to know the best books on the nature of consciousness and neuroscience, from things like how the brain processes information, how consciousness arises, and why human beings think and act the way they do according to the physical makeup of our brains, or whatever other subjects about the brain you personally find interesting enough to read a book about with the brain!
I find it especially interesting the studies I have been reading about why some people are conservative vs liberal, and it has a lot to do with your amygdala, people who are more conservative have a higher fear and disgust response. That has changed my perspective on politics a lot, because I stop looking at it as solely a matter of your choices you make, and factor in more how a person's human nature comes into play. That's something that really interests me.
I'd also be careful about interpreting those kinds of papers. not that they aren't correct or whatever but people see those soundbite conclusions and start to oversimplify an incredibly complex issue. More so, those studies can't really tell if those brain relations are causal and to be frank, most psychologists wouldn't be able to give you a good reliable reason as to why those brain areas might be connected to political orientation. Psychology study results are also quite context dependent.
Theres a difference between saying "theres some kind of relationship between this and this statistically in a study" and then thinking "this means that if you are this, you are going to be this and this and this is why you are this"
Tyler Watson
As a rule of thumb, in order to keep your mind open but still follow the facts, to consider level 6.
Colton Allen
Google Jonathan Haidt and Steven Pinker.
Adrian Davis
thank you I'm guessing this "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion" by jonathan haidt is what I'm looking for? And I'm guessing it's "how the mind works" by steven pinker I'm looking for too?
James Collins
He is making a point. Physics is technically easier to compute and study, because it's something that is much more consistent to study. Brains are so much more complex, I believe if we cannot understand some basic physics, then we'll never ever fully understand the brain. Everything in psychology is very rough estimates at this year of 2016.
Thomas Turner
stephen pinker is not it man. pop/psy/ is so shit. hes not even on the same level as dawkins/
Hunter Gutierrez
Yeah, I sort of get that sense from what I've gathered about brain science, that we understand very little. Every time I hear people talking about brain studies it's with these awful, primitive machines that show the brain lighting up in certain areas, which just gives people some idea of "aha, that area of the brain responsible for this form of thinking!" But it's frustrating to me that we can't diagnose people or even explain the processes of the brain, using some sort of actual biological method other than crude observations of behavior or these primitive brain scans.
Julian James
We Are Our Brains: From the Womb to Alzheimer's
that is actually a good book by a guy with lots of research experience and isn't stephen pinker ^.
Juan Rivera
Yes those books are both great. You can save yourself the reading by watching videos, both writers have given full-length lectures on their respective books.
Anthony Anderson
>I'm too dumb to understand him, so he must be poppsy!
Pinker is a neuroscientist, a linguist and a psychologist, he is probably the best qualified person to talk about the nature of thought.
Jason Stewart
yes, i know hes a psychologist, i wouldn't say hes a neuroscientist and he doesn't do alot of his own original research. He does write books and he collates information but he often has clunky interpretations and opinions. hes a public intellectual, hes not the best person you would want to look at for expertise in a field or view of research. Hes basically a Dawkins of psychology. Yes he will talk about scientific kind of issues that seem to be relevant to the public ut they won't be nuanced and won't give anyone a deep understanding of the field he talks about.
There are many other people i'd rather ask about psychology than steven pinker.
Oliver Evans
hes also never made any big contributions to psychology.
Charles Rodriguez
plus there is only speculation no real evidence for the nature of consciousness so he is as qualified as an undergrad... Take everything you read with a pinch of salt and do some research of your own. don't get too into and stuck with an idea because then you may become blind-sighted and find yourself in an echo-chamber like bad scientists and morons.
Bentley Johnson
what do you mean
"real evidence for the nature of consciousness" ?
Cameron Walker
I should have been more specific, i am targeting the nature of 'higher level cognitive functioning' over basic consciousness.
Landon Russell
>There are many other people i'd rather ask about psychology than steven pinker.
Name three.
Aaron Hernandez
Hi, owner of a dog named Bob here, curious about rhe rusting rate of steel.
What does you being atheist have to do with anything you just wrote?
Charles Turner
glorious comment
Parker Nguyen
topkek, heres a ((you))
Justin Campbell
Karl friston, anil seth, adele diamond.
Jace Parker
>a brain guy, a discount steven pinker, and a woman
Top kek
Caleb Walker
loool fuck off baitlet.
Landon Myers
>a discount steven pinker I'm not the person you're replying to, and I actually worked with Seth, but that still made me lol.
Bentley Fisher
really? doing what?
Benjamin Cruz
Granger causality analysis of EEG data during cognitive control
Jaxon Rivera
Being an atheist has to do with the OP because a lot of times people equate consciousness and the mind to spiritual and metaphysical ideas, which I find retarded and don't have anything to do with what I am looking for. So, it's like that, but I know that immediately something that's implied isn't automatically picked up, because fuckers like you probably still don't understand the point of why I would say that, and keep misunderstanding the world with your idiotic spiritual beliefs and misunderstanding of rational thinking, you retarded fuck.
Elijah Gomez
thoughts are metaphysical by nature so gg youll never get any scientific answers
