Brainless Myths
What I have just said of the network, on its structure and, above all, on the fact that all the parts of the central nervous system make up a part of it, proves the anatomical and functional continuity between nerve cells.
(Golgi 1906)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/brain-myths
In this post the dialogue is realised by an interaction of virtual characters, for more information please check the page “Virtual characters“
John
There are some really silly myths about the brain 🤣
Cho
I know, whenever I teach an intro class that’s what my first lecture is about 😄
John
We’ve got some oldies in there, for context, like the Reticular Theory
Cho
I must confess I don’t know that one … 🤨
John
Oh, this is from the 19th century, before we could clearly make out single neurons and synapses ..
John
people like Golgi thought it was one giant network without gaps
Cho
Wow, I did not know that … 😯
John
We use some of the old misconceptions to show that people seriously believed stuff we now know is nonsense
John
so that the readers might get that some of the things they seriously believe …
Cho
… may very well turn out to be nonsense as well. 😊
John
We do all the classics: left vs right, male vs female, the brain works like a computer, etc.
Cho
That last one is so very annoying! Lots of students think that. 😊
John
We actually don’t go into the whole “artificial neural network” thing, but just point out that the brain isn’t organized like the PC on your desk.
Cho
That’s helpful, but as long we keep talking about “intelligent” machines, the metaphor will keep working both ways.
John
Maybe we could point out something like that in the article too …
Cho
I’d like to add a myth, if you don’t have it yet: mirror neurons
John
Aren’t they real? 😄
Cho
Sure, but they’ve been overhyped and people tried to use them to explain anything and everything
John
I see. You’re right, I remember there were a lot of publication linking them to empathy, autism, learning any physical skill, etc.
Cho
That’s what I mean: hype. They exist and are interesting, but can’t explain everything.
John
OK, good one, I’ll check with the other writers and likely add a paragraph about that. ☺️
… Continue to read the conversation between John and Cho
on Saturday 05th June…
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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