Brain and the Poetic Mind

Ethics and Morality

Morality and Community

A. David Redish Ph.D. on November 9, 2019

A new definition of morality provides an explanation of human behavior and new insight into how we make and keep communities.

A new definition of morality provides an explanation of human behavior and new insight into how we make and keep communities.

Understanding the decision-making process changes how we should make decisions

Anger

Peacemaking Among Primates

A. David Redish Ph.D. on September 11, 2014

Hey, it's only a game!

Hey, it's only a game!

Education

Learning the Playbook and Learning From Tape

A. David Redish Ph.D. on September 4, 2014

How can a football player translate thousands of o's and x's from a playbook onto action on the field?

How can a football player translate thousands of o's and x's from a playbook onto action on the field?

Decision-Making

Separating Strategy From the Execution on the Field

A. David Redish Ph.D. on August 28, 2014

The action on the field is too fast for strategic, deliberative decisions, so they are moved off-field.

The action on the field is too fast for strategic, deliberative decisions, so they are moved off-field.

Race and Ethnicity

The Perceptual Arms Race

A. David Redish Ph.D. on August 21, 2014

Football is an arms race between perception and deception.

Football is an arms race between perception and deception.

Decision-Making

The Action on the Field

A. David Redish Ph.D. on August 14, 2014

A football play is a flurry of decisions. How can they be made so fast?

A football play is a flurry of decisions. How can they be made so fast?

Football is a game of action, and thus a game of decisions. Over the next few weeks, as the new NFL season starts, I'll be exploring how our understanding of decision-making explains action in the game of football.

Anthropomorphism

Post-modern Anthropomorphism

A. David Redish Ph.D. on June 9, 2014

What does it mean to say someone “deliberates” over choices? What does it mean to say that a person “expresses regret”? How could we tell if these are unique human abilities? Recently published data suggest that rats express regret when they make mistakes.

What does it mean to say someone “deliberates” over choices? What does it mean to say that a person “expresses regret”? How could we tell if these are unique human abilities? Recently published data suggest that rats express regret when they make mistakes.

Free Will

We Are All Commander Data, Now

A. David Redish Ph.D. on April 11, 2014

Free will depends on agency. Neuroscience implies a physical brain. We can avoid the nihilism of determinism if we look at what agency really means.

Free will depends on agency. Neuroscience implies a physical brain. We can avoid the nihilism of determinism if we look at what agency really means.

Utilitarianism assumes that everyone shares your optimization function. How do we deal with tribes that have different optimization functions?

Neuroscience

Putting the Neuro into Economics

A. David Redish Ph.D. on November 5, 2013

The neuroscience of decision-making has direct implications for the reality of economics. Too much of economics is based on incorrect theories of human behavior. "Neuroeconomics" needs to be about more than using economic language to do neuroscience experiments - it needs to be about rebuilding economics from the ground up. The details matter.

The neuroscience of decision-making has direct implications for the reality of economics. Too much of economics is based on incorrect theories of human behavior. "Neuroeconomics" needs to be about more than using economic language to do neuroscience experiments - it needs to be about rebuilding economics from the ground up. The details matter.

Setting the stage. We’re going to be exploring the implications of the physical mind, the idea that the mind is a creation of the brain, particularly from the perspective of decision-making, which we will define as the process of selecting an action.