Maturationally Natural Cognition Maturationally Natural Cognition and and

Radically Counter-Intuitive ScienceRadically Counter-Intuitive Science

Robert N. McCauley Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture

Emory University

http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~philrnm/

Maturationally Natural Cognition Maturationally Natural Cognition and and

Radically Counter-Intuitive ScienceRadically Counter-Intuitive Science

1. philosophical and psychological preliminaries

2. maturationally natural cognition

3. radically counter-intuitive science

4. maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence

part 1: philosophical preliminaries:part 1: philosophical preliminaries:two comments on theory ladennesstwo comments on theory ladenness

1. whatever they are, scientific

theories are selective

2. two varieties of theory

ladenness (at least)

part 1: psychological preliminaries:part 1: psychological preliminaries:dual processing theoriesdual processing theories

reflective vs. intuitive

off-line on-line

conscious unconscious

deliberate automatic

slow fast

verbal non-verbal (mostly)

part 1: psychological preliminariespart 1: psychological preliminariesintuitive cognitionintuitive cognition

specific beliefs or actions that arise automatically and instantaneously and are held or done without reflection

1. general, commonsense notion

2. presumed sound, though underdetermined

3. declarative and procedural

4. two sources

part 2: maturationally natural cognitionpart 2: maturationally natural cognition

1. address basic problems

2. appear early

3. define normal development

4. do not depend on any culturally distinctive support

5. constitute domain specific systems at the end, if not at the beginning

6. engage when triggered by distinctive cues

part 2: maturationally natural cognitionpart 2: maturationally natural cognitionsome candidate domainssome candidate domains

language

face recognition

part 2: maturationally natural cognitionpart 2: maturationally natural cognitionsome candidate domainssome candidate domains

language

face recognition

basic physics of solid objects

theory of mind

contamination avoidance

part 3: radically counter-intuitive part 3: radically counter-intuitive sciencescience

the sciences reliably advance (usually sooner rather than later) representations that are radically counter-intuitive

i.e., these representations depart drastically from the deliverances of our maturationally natural perceptual and cognitive systems

1582 illustration of impetus 1582 illustration of impetus theory by Walther Hermann theory by Walther Hermann

Ryff which divides the Ryff which divides the trajectory into 3 phases trajectory into 3 phases

part 4: maturationally natural influences part 4: maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence and the implications of their persistence

re: Churchland’s project

(1) for reflective theories superseding implicit, maturationally natural theories (especially with regard to perception)

(2) for achieving widespread scientific expertise

-- persisting (intrusive!) maturationally natural (theoretical) assumptions

-- difficulties assessing probabilistic evidence

-- inferential foibles

-- confirmation bias

part 4: maturationally natural influences part 4: maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence and the implications of their persistence

re: Fodor’s project for a theory-neutral, observational foundation

of scientific knowledge

“. . . insensitivity to local alterations in beliefs and utilities is . . . a necessary condition for the theory neutrality of observation. . . . what seems to be required is just enough diachronic encapsulation to allow perceptual consensus to survive the effects of the kinds of differences of learning histories that observers actually exhibit.”

Fodor, J. (1988). “A Reply to Churchland’s “Perceptual Plasticity and Theoretical Neutrality,”” Philosophy of Science 55, 192.

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part 4: maturationally natural influences part 4: maturationally natural influences and the implications of their persistence and the implications of their persistence

perceptual input systems :: linguistic input system

Both their development and ultimate forms may be substantially shaped by cultural inputs. Thus:

1. they are theory laden

2. they are not uniform