False statement

Posted 03-23-2021 at 12:57 AM by Michael Uplawski
Updated 12-06-2021 at 07:14 AM by Michael Uplawski

Tags doubt, neuroscience, pseudo-science

I just modified my comment to one of my own blog-entries but now feel that it is itself worth an entry.

If it sticks it may be sticky. Avoid.

This comment contained a false statement. I have to leave it here and mark it as false, because it is frequently repeated in a pseudo-scientific context, by right-wing political activists, by marketing-experts, by so-called “coaches”.

The story is that, around 1955, an American scientific formulated a hypothesis which was quickly refuted but stuck with some interested parties. I did not know and just found this thing too appealing to not give it some thought. When “Me Too” made everyboy (<- HA! A true Freudian. Love it. edit 6/12/2021) think, I became comfortable with what had become my conviction.

The truth is that, up to this day, nobody can identify anything in our brain's structure and organization which allowed to virtually map Freud's concepts to distinct parts or distinct functions of our brain. In the contrary, all studies in Neuroscience which either tried to evaluate the hypothesis or otherwise bordered the issues that the hypothesis addresses, “prove it wrong” ( <= That is not scientifically speaking. It should be “cannot prove it right” or “cannot make us assume its pertinence” and “... probably” – complying to a widely adopted error-tolerance).

Shorter: There is no such thing as a “Reptilian Brain”. Forget it (please do).

I do not reproduce the way in which I have to address myself for some time. There are ladies in the room. I have even helped to spread this shit around!!

Science is doubt. Not assertion. I had forgotten for a while.

All that follows is *FALSE*:

“Free will” is an illusion. Between the termination of any action and the statement “I wanted to do that” a variable time between half a second and up to ten seconds pass. After that, your cortex has packed up the memory of the event, your action, the decisions taken based on the perceptions and lessons learned from the past and filed that package away for future use. The fact, that your interior library is now enriched by 1 new volume gives the reptilian brain new directives for the future. And it is the reptilian brain that states all of a sudden: “I wanted to do that”. Which is not even false, as it will.

Posted in Incomprehension and Antagonism, Wisdom caught up with me, though I am running fast.

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And here I was expecting for an expansion of the information on the false command given in its man page.

Do nothing, unsuccessfully.

Posted 04-03-2021 at 08:04 AM by jr_bob_dobbs

	Quote: Originally Posted by jr_bob_dobbs And here I was expecting for an expansion of the information on the false command given in its man page. Do nothing, unsuccessfully. You are probably commenting on-topic, however.
	Posted 04-06-2021 at 12:27 AM by Michael Uplawski

	Quote: Science is doubt. Not assertion. That's some powerful quote. It inspired me to search for more. I was not disappointed : Quote: Science is a thoroughly conscious ignorance. Attributed to James Maxwell. source : https://www.wired.com/2012/07/firestein-science-doubt/
	Posted 07-28-2022 at 04:16 AM by ychaouche

If you are attracted by the scientific method, maybe take a look at René Descartes and his “Discours on the Method”, the founding document of today's scientific research method.

The method had been developed for himself because he was fed up with ad hoc interpretations and experimental evidence that was impossible to reproduce (and also... he has had too much time on his hands). His own findings were about 98% rubbish, as he was starting from wrong assumptions. But he provided the means for later scientists to prove it.

If he lived today, Descartes would himself be the first to laugh about the statement “René, I do not want to be harsh, but your scientific work is utter bull!”, then invite you for a drink. Because that is what he wanted: Create a base for others to work on. Unfortunately his theories were so well explained that they stayed valid for much too long...

“Pour examiner la vérité, il est besoin, une fois dans sa vie, de mettre toutes choses en doute autant qu’il se peut.”

“To examine truth, it is necessary, once in a lifetime, to put all things into question, as much as it can be done.”

Posted 01-23-2023 at 06:55 AM by Michael Uplawski Michael Uplawski is offline

Updated 01-27-2023 at 06:45 AM by Michael Uplawski