neuremind

This is an important disclaimer to be careful in your reading of neuremind materials.

Science, Not Certainty

Scientific studies and perspectives are often discussed as though they are unanimous and certain. Uncertainty is in fact a part of good science.

Good science (and being a good scientist) is about knowing what we don’t know. Writing materials on scientific matters can be tricky because focusing too much on detail and uncertainty makes it harder to communicate the key ideas. There are many disclaimers I would like to repeat to emphasise key ideas are (over)simplifications, but it would get repetitive and even confusing.

Any time that you read something referencing scientific studies, theories or beliefs, please keep these in mind:

“as best we know from existing research”

“this is one perspective and there are (probably) groups of neuroscientists who support a different one”

“the actual data about this is much less straightforward”

“this is an analogy, try not to take it too literally”

Similar, Not Same.

I will often use ‘analogy’ to make complex and unfamiliar concepts more understandable. Try not to take these analogies too literally.

In science we use a distinction of analogy and homology. Analogy is recognising similarity of different things, whilst homology is recognising differences of things that are the same (‘homo’ means ‘same’). For example, our lungs are a homology to the gills of fish – the same organ with the purpose of getting oxygen from the environment, but through different means. We can say meeting a new and exciting person can be like a “breath of fresh air”. It is not actually the same thing, but a helpful analogy to communicate the experience. 

Lungs are like gills in that they are organs for getting oxygen. Meeting a new and exciting person can be like a breath of fresh air. The use of like for these comparisons (lungs/gills, fresh air/new person) is not alike.

Confusing analogy and homology can lead to mistakes: “did you know meeting an exciting new person actually purifies the oxygen in your lungs?!”

This may seem a silly belief to some, but only because you have sound enough understanding of lungs and social interactions. The brain is still so mysterious and complex that it’s quite easy to misunderstand it with similar beliefs.