Trevor Rollings

A Little History of the Mind Trevor Rollings

Cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, social psychology and information theory suggest that the mind is flat, flawed and mechanical. Operated by algorithms, synapses and defaults, we are not as profound, free and reasonable as we like to think. Materialism rules the roost. This 'little history of the mind' measures these claims against how we actually live our lives. How do we arrive at political opinions, scientific theories, religious beliefs and moral choices? What convinces us that free will, mind, self and consciousness are both existential necessities and social realities? Know then thyself, urge philosophers and scientists alike. Are we doomed never to know ourselves fully, or do the new ideas coming out of cognitive neuroscience offer us genuine self knowledge for the first time?