Louis Bacio
01-20-2008, 06:51 PM
I came across an article in the Opinion section of the Los Angeles Times titled "Misreading the Mind". Written by Jonah Lehrer it reminded me a lot of M. Cothran's article "Is Fiction False?". The article comments on a method called reductionism. The method has been used in the field of neuroscience with success. However the author adds that the method has its limitations. Here are a few quotes:
" Not everything benefits from from being broken down into tiny pieces.Look for example at a Beethoven symphony. If the music is reduced to wavelengths of vibrating air-- the simple sum of its physics--we actually understand LESS about the music." Hmm... sounds familiar. "In other words, reductionism can leave out a lot of reality." Wow. "As Noam Chomsky said, "It is quite possible-overwhelmingly probable, one might guess-- that we will always learn more about human life and personality from novels than from scientific psychology."". "In this sense, the arts are an incredibly rich data set, providing neuroscience with a glimpse behind its blind spots." Is it me or is this sort of what the M. Cothran is saying in "Is Fiction False?"? The article is January 20th, 2008 Sunday edition of th Los Angeles Times. Good stuff! The quotes are out of context and that makes for an incomplete picture but I hope somehow you all can get a copy of the article.
Comments anyone?
" Not everything benefits from from being broken down into tiny pieces.Look for example at a Beethoven symphony. If the music is reduced to wavelengths of vibrating air-- the simple sum of its physics--we actually understand LESS about the music." Hmm... sounds familiar. "In other words, reductionism can leave out a lot of reality." Wow. "As Noam Chomsky said, "It is quite possible-overwhelmingly probable, one might guess-- that we will always learn more about human life and personality from novels than from scientific psychology."". "In this sense, the arts are an incredibly rich data set, providing neuroscience with a glimpse behind its blind spots." Is it me or is this sort of what the M. Cothran is saying in "Is Fiction False?"? The article is January 20th, 2008 Sunday edition of th Los Angeles Times. Good stuff! The quotes are out of context and that makes for an incomplete picture but I hope somehow you all can get a copy of the article.
Comments anyone?