Does this question make any sense at all? Given what the brain is? https://twitter.com/_attlee/status/906698825611354113 …
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Replying to @HPluckrose
I think it's an attempt to be invoke the Spandrel idea ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology) … ) and say that all mental traits are spandrels /1
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Replying to @gregstevens @HPluckrose
...or perhaps that all cognition as a whole is a spandrel? The problem is I don't see where that argument is heading. Even if the case, /2
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Replying to @gregstevens
I think it is motivated by proving a philosophical point rather than denying evolution. That evo-psych is ad-hoc & therefore not scientific.
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Replying to @HPluckrose
Mm hmm...it's a vague enough argument it can be applied to literally anything. One can always say "such and such may have been a by product"
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Replying to @gregstevens @HPluckrose
Maybe the ability to make tools was a side-effect of evolutionary pressure for building little sculptures to impress potential mates! Etc.
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Replying to @gregstevens @HPluckrose
The fact is, that kind of "argument" is what breaks from scientific method: if you think X is a spandrel, put forth a specific prediction /1
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Replying to @gregstevens @HPluckrose
that would be true if X were a spandrel and false if it were not, and then test that prediction. That's how you do science.... /2
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Replying to @gregstevens @HPluckrose
You do NOT just go around saying "but what if this? You haven't convinced me not to believe THIS?" That's both non-scientific and just lazy
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That's a good way to pinpoint the problem I am having with this. It seems empty & meaningless.
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