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The Science of the Mind 2001 and Beyond
What would happen if someone brought together the finest minds in psychology to reflect on the past century and speculate on the future of the field in the twenty-first century? Robert Solso and Dominic Massaro did just that, and the result is this fascinating, insightful, and sometimes humorous collection of essays from leading psychologists, among them Gordon Bower, Howard Gardner, Richard Gregory, Earl Hunt, Stephen Kosslyn, Jean Mandler, Donald Norman, Roger Shepard, Roger Sperry, and Robert Sternberg. American psychology recently reached its centennial, and these contributions offer a glimpse of what sorts of developments and innovations we can expect over the next century. For anyone with a professional or personal interest in psychology, this wide-ranging work will provoke thought and discussion about the shape of psychology as we approach the next century.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 28, 1995
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August 22, 2024
A 1995 BOOK THAT TRIES TO PREDICT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
The editors of this 1995 collection wrote in the Preface, "the last hundred years have seen unprecedented technological and scientific progress in the science of the mind. Will the vector of unusual development continue throughout the twenty-first century? It is within this context that the present book was planned. The editors were interested in what the leading scholars of today thought about the future of the mind... we invited papers from a cross section of distinguished scholars. We were delighted with the overwhelming support for the idea of pulling together ideas from contemporary scholars on their vision for the future... Readers will find ... a fanciful blueprint for the future, written by wise people of the twentieth century..." (Pg. vii-viii)
One author suggests optimistically, "I believe that that close of the twenty-first century... will spawn a reawakening of interest in the arts, literature, humanities, and natural environment. This 'postmodern' earthy Renaissance will be a reaction to the technological revolution which developed rapidly throughout the twentieth century and... brought the near destruction of our ecology." (Pg. 15)
Neurobiologist Roger Sperry argues, "In the cognitive revolution, psychology is leading the way among the sciences to a new and improved---that is, a more comprehensive, adequate, and more valid---conceptual foundation for scientific ... causal explanation and understanding... Psychology, after having been put down for decades by the so-called hard sciences as not being really a science, is now turning the tables---in effect, asserting the reductive physicalism or 'microdeterminism,' the traditional explanatory model of science ... has serious shortcomings and is no longer tenable." (Pg. 35)
He adds that "An alternative form of causal determinism was perceived that put mind and consciousness in a functionally interactive, nonreductive, and ineliminable causal role... thus breaking the long-standing impasse and 'irreconcilable contradiction' of the mind-brain paradox... In this way, subjectively experienced conscious qualities ... could be looked at as objective interactive causal influences without contradicting the gains of earlier science... And yet reductionist thinking has not been totally rejected; only the longtime assumption that it gives a complete and sufficient account." (Pg. 42-43)
Another essayist states, "Given that commuting and computing are related to machines what will there be for us to do?... My prediction is that we will become philosophers. More specifically, philosophy will become the most important university subject." (Pg. 142)
Yet another asserts, "The future of the human mind lies in the steady, increasing evolution of technology that will make fundamental changes in human abilities... The future of human evolution lies outside of the human; it lies in technology. Today, we are at the start of the cognitive revolution in technological artifacts that increase the power of the mind. Although the mind itself can no longer grow because it it limited by its biological constraints, especially that of physical size, the POWER of the mind can expand through the aid of technology." (Pg. 247)
The editors note in their conclusion, "The problem of consciousness goes beyond the mind-body problem because we can have the latter without the former. That is, mental processes do not have to be conscious, and we have learned that many are not. Given the power of the unconscious, consciousness is not an essential topic for the resolution of the mind-body problem. Even without consciousness, we still have to explain how the physical body supports these unconscious mental processes... The properties for consciousness included memory, learning, insight, attitudes, ability to react to environment, and ability to symbolize... some day, we may see all of them in the nonconscious systems of tomorrow's computers." (Pg. 306-307)
Though no longer "visionary," this book may still be of use to those looking to future developments.
The editors of this 1995 collection wrote in the Preface, "the last hundred years have seen unprecedented technological and scientific progress in the science of the mind. Will the vector of unusual development continue throughout the twenty-first century? It is within this context that the present book was planned. The editors were interested in what the leading scholars of today thought about the future of the mind... we invited papers from a cross section of distinguished scholars. We were delighted with the overwhelming support for the idea of pulling together ideas from contemporary scholars on their vision for the future... Readers will find ... a fanciful blueprint for the future, written by wise people of the twentieth century..." (Pg. vii-viii)
One author suggests optimistically, "I believe that that close of the twenty-first century... will spawn a reawakening of interest in the arts, literature, humanities, and natural environment. This 'postmodern' earthy Renaissance will be a reaction to the technological revolution which developed rapidly throughout the twentieth century and... brought the near destruction of our ecology." (Pg. 15)
Neurobiologist Roger Sperry argues, "In the cognitive revolution, psychology is leading the way among the sciences to a new and improved---that is, a more comprehensive, adequate, and more valid---conceptual foundation for scientific ... causal explanation and understanding... Psychology, after having been put down for decades by the so-called hard sciences as not being really a science, is now turning the tables---in effect, asserting the reductive physicalism or 'microdeterminism,' the traditional explanatory model of science ... has serious shortcomings and is no longer tenable." (Pg. 35)
He adds that "An alternative form of causal determinism was perceived that put mind and consciousness in a functionally interactive, nonreductive, and ineliminable causal role... thus breaking the long-standing impasse and 'irreconcilable contradiction' of the mind-brain paradox... In this way, subjectively experienced conscious qualities ... could be looked at as objective interactive causal influences without contradicting the gains of earlier science... And yet reductionist thinking has not been totally rejected; only the longtime assumption that it gives a complete and sufficient account." (Pg. 42-43)
Another essayist states, "Given that commuting and computing are related to machines what will there be for us to do?... My prediction is that we will become philosophers. More specifically, philosophy will become the most important university subject." (Pg. 142)
Yet another asserts, "The future of the human mind lies in the steady, increasing evolution of technology that will make fundamental changes in human abilities... The future of human evolution lies outside of the human; it lies in technology. Today, we are at the start of the cognitive revolution in technological artifacts that increase the power of the mind. Although the mind itself can no longer grow because it it limited by its biological constraints, especially that of physical size, the POWER of the mind can expand through the aid of technology." (Pg. 247)
The editors note in their conclusion, "The problem of consciousness goes beyond the mind-body problem because we can have the latter without the former. That is, mental processes do not have to be conscious, and we have learned that many are not. Given the power of the unconscious, consciousness is not an essential topic for the resolution of the mind-body problem. Even without consciousness, we still have to explain how the physical body supports these unconscious mental processes... The properties for consciousness included memory, learning, insight, attitudes, ability to react to environment, and ability to symbolize... some day, we may see all of them in the nonconscious systems of tomorrow's computers." (Pg. 306-307)
Though no longer "visionary," this book may still be of use to those looking to future developments.
September 3, 2015
This is a very interesting book, mostly essays from other in the science fields talking about how they see the future of neuroscience, cognitive and other mind science. It was published back in 1995 and it's surprising just how close much of those predictions have come to pass. In a way, scary but also very inlightening and encouraging what the possiblities will bring.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews