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Warning sign right here: > "I’ve got a model in my head of how the world works — a broad framework for making sense of the world around me. I’m sure you’ve got

Warning sign right here: > "I’ve got a model in my head of how the world works — a broad framework for making sense of the world around me. I’m sure you’ve got one, too." Anyone with scientific training should know that you should have multiple working hypothesis, you shouldn't wed yourself to one preferred model (which leads to idee fixe, rejecting evidence that doesn't fit your model and even inventing evidence which does). People who fall into this trap start seeing their mental model in the world around them, thinking they're engaging in pattern recognition when they're really doing pattern projection. Their emotions, ego and pride all converge at this point - there are dozens of examples throughout scientific history of people falling into this trap, who end up shaking their fists at experimental data that upsets their apple cart. It's not that hard to hold two conflicting models in your mind at the same time, or more, without ending up emotionally attached to any of them.

PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
The "model" under discussion here is much more fundamental than I think you're taking into consideration. Specifically, Langer has suggested that merely thinking about things can lead to physical changes in the world. This is at odds with not just some specific model of something, but with the broadest conception of post-Rennaisance science.
- photochemsyn 2y ago
  Your brain does burn more glucose when it's working hard and this should cause a noticeable if slight temperature increase in the surrounding environment - so a physical change does take place, just by thinking. Other than that, some extraordinary evidence would be required.
  - pigeons 2y ago
    Could a person cause the physical change in the world of a slightly different configuration of myelin in their body, just with their thoughts?
- binoct 2y ago
  > merely thinking about things can lead to physical changes in the world Her claims are hardly akin to moving objects through telekinesis. Your brain is part of your nervous system which has massive control over your body. What happens in your brain obvious leads to changes in your body. Beyond the obvious "I think about moving my arm and then my arm moves" there is a ton of hard research to back up the ability of thoughts and moods to influence the autonomic systems of the body. Why are the things Langer is suggesting fundamentally different? Clearly more evidence is needed to prove many of her specific claims, and many of them may turn out to be noise, but the basic premise hardly seems worth dismissing. Descartes was 400 years ago.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
    They are indeed fascinating ideas. But they are so fascinating and so challenging that they deserve (much) better investigation than what Langer appears to have managed so far. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and all that.

PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago

The "model" under discussion here is much more fundamental than I think you're taking into consideration. Specifically, Langer has suggested that merely thinking about things can lead to physical changes in the world. This is at odds with not just some specific model of something, but with the broadest conception of post-Rennaisance science.

photochemsyn 2y ago
Your brain does burn more glucose when it's working hard and this should cause a noticeable if slight temperature increase in the surrounding environment - so a physical change does take place, just by thinking. Other than that, some extraordinary evidence would be required.
- pigeons 2y ago
  Could a person cause the physical change in the world of a slightly different configuration of myelin in their body, just with their thoughts?
binoct 2y ago
> merely thinking about things can lead to physical changes in the world Her claims are hardly akin to moving objects through telekinesis. Your brain is part of your nervous system which has massive control over your body. What happens in your brain obvious leads to changes in your body. Beyond the obvious "I think about moving my arm and then my arm moves" there is a ton of hard research to back up the ability of thoughts and moods to influence the autonomic systems of the body. Why are the things Langer is suggesting fundamentally different? Clearly more evidence is needed to prove many of her specific claims, and many of them may turn out to be noise, but the basic premise hardly seems worth dismissing. Descartes was 400 years ago.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
  They are indeed fascinating ideas. But they are so fascinating and so challenging that they deserve (much) better investigation than what Langer appears to have managed so far. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and all that.