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b_b  ·  5015 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Michael Arrington: Racism: The Game
I wasn't familiar with Kapor, so thanks for the info. However, the fact that he's not a neuroscientist highlights my point even more. I was making a point about the popular misunderstandings about neuroscience. If a man who is a tech guy is reading popular neuroscience writing and coming away with statements like this, it shows that he's getting the wrong message. "The brain thinks X", or "the brain sees Y" is language that Kapor didn't make up himself. He co-opted it from neuroscientists. Eminent scientists such as Eric Kandel and Francis Crick have used this type of language in their writings, and even if its meant as an analogy, its horribly inept and it leads to misunderstanding of brain function.

Ascribing properties to the brain that properly only belong to humans (or other creatures) has been called a new form of dualism by the philosopher P.M.S. Hacker. What he means is that this type of thinking doesn't lead to any deeper understanding of cognition, cogitation or brain function; it simply hides the real answers by saying "your brain does it".

I'll freely admit to not knowing anything about the disposition or professional backgrounds of Arrington or Kapor. Arrington maybe an asshole, and Kapor a saint, but it doesn't mean in this case that Arrington isn't correct.