The Cartesian assumptions of cognitive psychology give rise to an insoluable problem, the 'problem of other minds'. It is presupposed that people do not provide evidence of their intentions in the observable environment, but we seem to understand their intentions nevertheless (the ‘unobservability principle’: Krueger, 2012). The ‘problem of other minds’ is thus a kind… Continue reading On Purpose
Tag: Affordances
Brain Size and Social Intelligence
There is a double-standard in psychology that claims that humans have unique socio-cognitive skills, and a prominent explanation for this is the Social Intelligence or Social Brain Hypothesis: that human brains are outsized due to the enormous complexity of our social relations. I have noted in previous posts that the skills psychologists assume are human-specific… Continue reading Brain Size and Social Intelligence
Psychology as Ideology
Much as the sociobiologists of the 1980's provided the 'neoliberal' capitalists of their era with the naturalisation of selfishness, cognitive psychology's conception of the mind makes it a suitable perspective for capitalist ideology: each person is isolated within their own head and must use a complex system of internal representations in order to mirror or… Continue reading Psychology as Ideology
Beyond Cognitive Hypocrisy
One thing that make's Frans de Waal's Chimpanzee Politics such an absorbing read, even today, is that it is unafraid to explicitly described chimpanzee behaviour in terms humans would recognise. There's times when this approach less useful than others (comparing Richard Nixon and a chimpanzee's behaviour strictly in terms of their reaction to losing power… Continue reading Beyond Cognitive Hypocrisy
