The Brains Blog

1. Living in the Shared World

Axel Seemann June 10, 2019 June 11, 2019 Axel Seemann: The Shared World

Many thanks to John Schwenkler for giving me the opportunity to write about The Shared World (MIT Press 2019). A question that has long fascinated me is how perceivers and agents can be operating in an environment that is public or, as I also say, shared; a world in which …

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John Schwenkler June 10, 2019 June 16, 2019 books

We are pleased to have Axel Seeman blogging this week on The Shared World: Perceptual Common Knowledge, Demonstrative Communication, and Social Space, recently published by The MIT Press. To view all his posts on a single page, please click here.

4. Political and Perceptual Differences

Last December, The Washington Post resurfaced a short video clip of Heather Nauert, nominee for US Ambassador to the United Nations. In the video Nauert attempted to make the case that there was a strong historical relationship between the United States and Germany. The Post described her as citing the …

3. Learning to Perceive in a Multisensory Way

Kevin Connolly May 15, 2019 May 15, 2019 books / Kevin Connolly: Perceptual Learning / perception / Philosophy of Mind / Psychology

Suppose you are at a live jazz show. The drummer begins a drum solo. You see the cymbal jolt. You hear a clang. And you are aware that the jolt and the clang are part of the same event. This is a case of multisensory perception. In my book, I …

2. Do Experts Really Perceive the World Differently from Non-Experts?

Kevin Connolly May 14, 2019 May 14, 2019 books / Kevin Connolly: Perceptual Learning / Neuroscience / perception / Philosophy of Mind / Psychology

People sometimes say things like the following: Cabernet Sauvignon tastes different to an expert wine taster than to a novice; or, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony sounds different to a seasoned conductor than it does to someone just hearing it for the first time. But does wine literally taste differently (or the …

1. What Is Perceptual Learning?

Kevin Connolly May 13, 2019 July 28, 2020 books / Kevin Connolly: Perceptual Learning / perception / Philosophy of Mind / Psychology

Last summer I tried to learn how to surf. I learned how to paddle to catch a wave, how to “pop up” to my feet on the surfboard from lying flat on my stomach, and how to turn on the board to surf down the wave once I caught it. …

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John Schwenkler May 13, 2019 May 19, 2019 books

We are grateful to Kevin Connolly for blogging this week on Perceptual Learning: The Flexibility of the Senses (Oxford University Press, 2019). To view all of Kevin’s posts on a single page, please click here.