The Dissenter

Ricardo Lopes
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Aug 5, 2019 • 1h 26min

#212 Donald Hoffman: The Case Against Reality; Perception, Consciousness, And Reality

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/the-dissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Anchor (podcast): https://anchor.fm/thedissenter Dr. Donald Hoffman is a Professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Hoffman studies consciousness, visual perception and evolutionary psychology using mathematical models and psychophysical experiments. His research subjects include facial attractiveness, the recognition of shape, the perception of motion and color, the evolution of perception, and the mind-body problem. He has co-authored two technical books: Observer Mechanics: A Formal Theory of Perception, and Automotive Lighting and Human Vision. He is just about to release a new book, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes. In this episode, we talk about how perception (particularly visual perception) works, how it has evolved, and the implications that has to how we deal with “objective reality”. First, Dr. Hoffman explains how he studies the architecture of vision. We discuss the evolutionary rationale behind perception, or how it has evolved – the interface theory of perception. In the second part, we go a little but metaphysical, and discuss what is reality, and the role that consciousness plays in it.  -- Follow Dr. Hoffman’s work: Website: https://bit.ly/2XnO0Oo Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2InA3I6 Researchgate profile: https://bit.ly/31AQ7hr Twitter handle: @donalddhoffman Books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2wZiIP4 The Case Against Reality: https://amzn.to/2FgL1xf -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BRIAN RIVERA, ADRIANO ANDRADE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, AND RICARDO VLADIMIRO! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, AND JIM FRANK!
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Aug 3, 2019 • 45min

Randy Thornhill Part 1: Parasite-Stress, Culture, Politics, Sociality, and Personality

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT This is Part 1 of the conversation with Dr. Randy Thornhill: Parasite-Stress, Culture, Politics, Sociality, and Personality. Time Links:  01:51 What is the Parasite-Stress Theory of Values? 20:02 The biological bases of culture  31:51 Pathogen levels, and excluding other possible factors    34:03 Effects on personality traits  37:58 Infectious disease and trust within groups  39:44 Social and political conservatism  43:52 Be careful about the naturalistic fallacy  -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, JUNOS, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JIM FRANK, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, AND HANS FREDRIK SUNDE! I also leave you with the link to a recent montage video I did with the interviews I have released until the end of June 2018: https://youtu.be/efdb18WdZUo And check out my playlists on: PSYCHOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/ybalf8km PHILOSOPHY: https://tinyurl.com/yb6a7d3p ANTHROPOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/y8b42r7g
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Aug 2, 2019 • 1h 41min

#128 Randy Thornhill: Parasite-Stress, Sociality, Values, Personality, and Politics

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Dr. Randy Thornhill is an American entomologist and evolutionary biologist. He is a professor of biology at the University of New Mexico, and was president of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society from 2011 to 2013. He is known for his evolutionary explanation of rape as well as his work on insect mating systems and the parasite-stress theory. He’s the author of several books, including A Natural History of Rape, and The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values and Sociality. In this episode, we focus on the main topics of Dr. Thornhill’s book, The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values and Sociality (https://tinyurl.com/ybuant6k). We explore the evolutionary bases of the behavioral immune system, and the strategies humans and other animals evolved, in terms of sociality, to avoid getting in contact with sources of infection and contamination. In the case of humans, these strategies involve politics, culture, society, personality, and other aspects. We also refer to the biological bases of culture; the emotions of disgust and fear; the cultural differences between the southern and the northern United States; religious content to do with purity and pathogen avoidance; how parasite-stress might have affected the development of the Inquisition, the Enlightenment, and the 60’s Cultural Revolution; and also how it is a factor that contributes to speciation. Time Links: 01:51 What is the Parasite-Stress Theory of Values? 20:02 The biological bases of culture             31:51 Pathogen levels, and excluding other possible factors         34:03 Effects on personality traits     37:58 Infectious disease and trust within groups    39:44 Social and political conservatism    43:52 Be careful about the naturalistic fallacy    45:08 Pathogens from human sources, and the ones from other animals (zoonotic sources)  49:37 Disgust and fear 53:50 The issue with domesticated animals 56:22 Philopatry and migration 1:02:25 Infection, neurodevelopment, IQ, and openness to ideas 1:07:09 Parasite-stress, and the values of northern and southern Americans 1:15:12 Religion, purity, and pathogen avoidance 1:21:16 The Inquisition, the Enlightenment, and the Cultural Revolution in the 60’s 1:31:46 Considering environmental factors, and where cultural values come from 1:34:01 Parasite-stress and speciation -- Follow Dr. Thornhill’s work: Faculty page: http://biology.unm.edu/Thornhill/rthorn.htm Books: https://tinyurl.com/y95a5myn -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, JUNOS, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JIM FRANK, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, AND HANS FREDRIK SUNDE! I also leave you with the link to a recent montage video I did with the interviews I have released until the end of June 2018: https://youtu.be/efdb18WdZUo And check out my playlists on: PSYCHOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/ybalf8km PHILOSOPHY: https://tinyurl.com/yb6a7d3p AN
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Aug 2, 2019 • 1h 4min

#211 Catherine Wilson: Epicureanism, Atomism, Materialism, And Modernity

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/the-dissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Anchor (podcast): https://anchor.fm/thedissenter Dr. Catherine Wilson was until recently Professor of Philosophy at the University of York, and is now teaching part-time at the City University of New York, and also a writer. She holds degrees in Philosophy from Yale, Oxford and Princeton and has taught in the USA, Canada, and Germany. Dr. Wilson teaches and writes in the history of modern philosophy and on early modern science and also works in the areas of ethics and aesthetics with a special interest in the evolution of morality and the science behind visual experience. She’s the author of books like Moral Animals: Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory, Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity, and Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction, and Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy. In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Wilson to talk about Epicureanism. We talk about its origins; some of its basic tenets, like materialism and atomism; how the epicureans thought about perception; and an early form of protodarwinism. We also refer to how the European early scientists and Enlightenment philosophers got influenced by Epicureanism. In the second part of the conversation, we discuss the Epicurean philosophy of life, and in what significant ways it diverged from Stoicism.  -- Follow Dr. Wilson’s work: Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2IK0nLF Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity: https://amzn.to/2In0Qpp Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction: https://amzn.to/31A2IRI The Pleasure Principle: Epicureanism: A Philosophy for Modern Living: https://amzn.to/2Km1hBi Free ebook Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint: https://tinyurl.com/yc7e4oc2 -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BRIAN RIVERA, ADRIANO ANDRADE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, AND RICARDO VLADIMIRO! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, AND JIM FRANK!
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Aug 1, 2019 • 46min

#127 Michael Graziano: Consciousness, From Animals To AI

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Dr. Michael Graziano is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Princeton University. His scientific research focuses on the brain basis of awareness. He has proposed the "attention schema" theory, an explanation of how, and for what adaptive advantage, brains attribute the property of awareness to themselves. His previous work focused on how the cerebral cortex monitors the space around the body and controls movement within that space. Notably he has suggested that the classical map of the body in motor cortex, the homunculus, is not correct and is better described as a map of complex actions that make up the behavioral repertoire. He's also the author of 13 books, including Consciousness and the Social Brain (2013), and The Spaces Between Us: A Story of Neuroscience, Evolution, and Human Nature (2018). In this episode, we focus our conversation on the topic of consciousness. Basically, what is consciousness, from a scientific perspective, and its relationship to other cognitive components of our brains. Also, the interplay between attention, awareness, and consciousness. The evolutionary relevance of consciousness for social species, and theory of mind. How we can tackle the hard problem of consciousness. “Illusionism”, or consciousness as an illusion of the mind. And, finally, we address the current limitations in studying consciousness in other animals; if we are close to create conscious AI; and also António Damásio’s proposal to the wat consciousness is build up from lower-order neurological processes. Time Links: 00:53 What is consciousness? 02:50 Are there different components to consciousness?            05:00 The relationship between consciousness and other cognitive processes          07:18 The importance of attention        08:56 Conscious and unconscious processes    11:52 Attention and awareness   13:59 Awareness and consciousness 21:06 The evolutionary and social relevance of consciousness 24:19 Consciousness and theory of mind 26:50 About social insects and consciousness 28:58  Is there group consciousness? 30:19 The hard problem of consciousness 33:52 Consciousness as an illusion 36:21 Consciousness in other animals 39:04 Can we create conscious AI? 40:29 António Damásio’s approach to consciousness 44:33 Follow Dr. Graziano’s work!   -- Follow Dr. Graziano’s work: Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/y8j68f5u Website: http://www.princeton.edu/~graziano/ -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, JUNOS, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JIM FRANK, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, AND HANS FREDRIK SUNDE! I also leave you with the link to a recent montage video I did with the interviews I have released until the end of June 2018: https://youtu.be/efdb18WdZUo And check out my playlists on: PSYCHOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/ybalf8km PHILOSOPHY: https://tinyurl.com/yb6a7d3p ANTHROPOLOGY: h
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Aug 1, 2019 • 1h 20min

#210 Dwight Read: Cultural Kin Systems, And The Evolution of Human Sociality

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/the-dissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Anchor (podcast): https://anchor.fm/thedissenter Dr. Dwight Read is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). His research interests include mathematical anthropology, the structural logic of kinship terminologies, theory of social organization, cultural evolution, and archaeological classification. He’s the author of books like Artifact Classification: A Conceptual and Methodological Approach, Human Thought and Social Organization: Anthropology on a New Plane, and How Culture Makes Us Human: Primate Social Evolution and the Formation of Human Societies. In this episode, we discuss the evolutionary bases of human sociality. We talk about how sociality evolved from Old World monkeys to chimpanzees and to humans. We refer to the role of biological kin selection, and the biological traits that provided a basis for the cultural evolution of kin systems. We discuss the social function of kin systems, their limits, and group identities beyond kin. -- Follow Dr. Read’s work: Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2DdRWWP Researchgate profile: https://bit.ly/2v0nX05 Adacemia.edu profile: https://bit.ly/2Fb57Zy How Culture Makes Us Human: Primate Social Evolution and the Formation of Human Societies: https://amzn.to/2DbCqL8 -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BRIAN RIVERA, ADRIANO ANDRADE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, AND RICARDO VLADIMIRO! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, AND JIM FRANK!
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Jul 31, 2019 • 53min

#126 Sarah Hill: Life History Theory, Puberty, Immune Function, and Mating Strategies

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Dr. Sarah Hill is Associate Professor of Psychology at Texas Christian University. She studies a range of topics, applying an evolutionary lens, including the interplay between immune function and mating strategies; the impact of inflammation; poverty, food regulation, and weight gain; hormonal contraceptives and mate choice; and other topics under the rubric of life history theory. In this episode, we talk about life history theory; how life history varies between species, and also how environmental cues might trigger fast or slow life history strategies. We talk about how it all starts in the uterus; the environmental cues people pay more attention to; how personality and other psychological traits might produce individual variation in dealing with the same cues. The we get into specific topics, like immune function; age of puberty onset; inflammation; eating habits and weight gain; how contraceptives affect women’s mating strategies; and also how technology like online porn, dating websites, and sex robots might tweak men’s mating strategies toward preferring short-term relationships. Time Links: 00:46 What is life history theory? 04:05 Stages of life history in humans             07:41 It all starts in the uterus…        13:02 The environmental cues people pay attention to   16:01 Individual variation    17:38 Immune function and life history      24:56 Puberty triggers and women’s reproductive strategies   31:28 Inflammation, eating habits, and metabolic diseases  36:40 Contraceptives and women’s mating strategies  41:21 Current technology and men’s short-term mating  45:55 Can life history help us tackle social issues?  48:45 Porn, sex robots, and feminist issues  50:25 Follow Dr. Hill’s work! -- Follow Dr. Hill’s work: Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/yc3drxaq Personal website: https://www.sarahehill.com/ Articles on Researchgate: https://tinyurl.com/ydhuuggy -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, JUNOS, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JIM FRANK, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, AND HANS FREDRIK SUNDE! I also leave you with the link to a recent montage video I did with the interviews I have released until the end of June 2018: https://youtu.be/efdb18WdZUo And check out my playlists on: PSYCHOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/ybalf8km PHILOSOPHY: https://tinyurl.com/yb6a7d3p ANTHROPOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/y8b42r7g
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Jul 30, 2019 • 55min

#125 Patrick Forscher: Implicit Bias, Stereotypes, and the Science Reform Movement

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Dr. Patrick Forscher is Assistant Professor of Psychology at the J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Arkansas. He studies social disparities and what to do about them. He also has a strong interest in research methods. As such, he has used a wide variety of methods to pursue his research interests, including scale construction, meta-analysis, field research, and conventional laboratory studies. In this episode, we talk about implicit biases, stereotypes, and prejudice. We start by discussing the scientific validity of the concept of “implicit bias”; the issue with distinguishing implicit bias, explicit bias, and overt behavior; how stereotypes affect people’s behavior; some interesting approaches to changing people’s stereotypes, and prevent discriminatory behavior. In the final segment of the interview, we also discuss the science reform movement, and some of the reasons behind the replicability crisis in science. Time Links: 00:35 What are implicit biases? And do they even exist? 01:42 Implicit bias, explicit bias, and behavior            11:34 The implicit bias association test          17:18 Stereotypes and prejudice        20:12 Could people just be rationalizing their behavior?    26:57 Some approaches to changing people’s stereotypes  33:12 The science reform movement  38:35 Flaws in the current way of doing science, and the replicability crisis   52:50 Follow Dr. Forscher’s work!   -- Follow Dr. Forscher’s work: Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/yb8hn95z Papers on PsyArxiv: https://tinyurl.com/yax4lxxo Twitter handle: @psforscher -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, JUNOS, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JIM FRANK, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, AND HANS FREDRIK SUNDE! I also leave you with the link to a recent montage video I did with the interviews I have released until the end of June 2018: https://youtu.be/efdb18WdZUo And check out my playlists on: PSYCHOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/ybalf8km PHILOSOPHY: https://tinyurl.com/yb6a7d3p ANTHROPOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/y8b42r7g
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Jul 29, 2019 • 56min

Robert Plomin Part 2: Polygenic Scores, Clinical Psychology, and Gene Editing

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT This is Part 2 of the conversation with Dr. Robert Plomin: Polygenic Scores, Clinical Psychology, and Gene Editing.  Time Links:  00:00 Making good use of polygenic scores, and issues regarding society and equality of opportunity 16:59 Science does not dictate moral nor social values 21:45 About clinical psychology, and the classification of mental conditions 37:21 Certain biases in clinical psychology, and what happens when children develop in deprived environments 44:14 Is gene editing around the corner for complex psychological traits? 48:01 How pleiotropy complicates gene editing 50:15 Follow Dr. Plomin’s work! -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, JUNOS, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JIM FRANK, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, AND HANS FREDRIK SUNDE! I also leave you with the link to a recent montage video I did with the interviews I have released until the end of June 2018: https://youtu.be/efdb18WdZUo And check out my playlists on: PSYCHOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/ybalf8km PHILOSOPHY: https://tinyurl.com/yb6a7d3p ANTHROPOLOGY: https://tinyurl.com/y8b42r7g 
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Jul 29, 2019 • 1h 19min

#209 Cecilia Heyes: Cultural Evolutionary Psychology, Imitation, And Mindreading

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/the-dissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Anchor (podcast): https://anchor.fm/thedissenter Dr. Cecilia Heyes is a Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Fellow in Theoretical Life Science at All Souls College, University of Oxford. She was trained as an experimental psychologist at University College London (UCL, 1978-84). As a Harkness Fellow in the United States (1984-6), she studied evolutionary epistemology with Donald T. Campbell and philosophy of mind with Daniel Dennett. She’s done experimental work, initially in animal cognition and later in cognitive neuroscience, and more recently her group developed and tested an associative account of the origins of imitation and the mirror neuron system. She’s the author of Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking. In this episode, we talk about the approach developed by Dr. Cecilia Heyes and collaborators, as exposed in her book, Cognitive Gadgets – cultural evolutionary theory. First, we discuss what it borrows from Evolutionary Psychology and Cultural Evolutionary Theory, and what assumptions from both of those fields it rejects. We talk about modularity of mind, and then get into two of the cognitive mechanisms that Dr. Heyes explores in the book, namely imitation and mindreading (or theory of mind). We get a bit into how language might influence our thinking. And toward the end we address issues regarding human nature, and evolutionary mismatch. -- Follow Dr. Heyes’ work: Faculty page/website: https://bit.ly/2H1BZVZ Researchgate profile: https://bit.ly/2XiI4Xj Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking: https://amzn.to/2Jem1cI Twitter handle: @CeliaHeyes -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BRIAN RIVERA, ADRIANO ANDRADE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, AND RICARDO VLADIMIRO! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, AND JIM FRANK!

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