Is the Human Mind Unique?
Scientists from many different fields gathered to discuss cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans including humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. Emphasis was placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes,
as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness, and whether these attributes are indeed quantitatively or qualitatively unique to humans.
(from carta.anthropogeny.org)
Desperately Seeking Explanation. In this talk, Daniel Povinelli (Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette) suggests that "desperately seeking explanation" is a uniquely human mental function. In science, this "explanatory drive" can be properly regarded as a mania, which, as it proceeds largely uncontrolled, will continue to yield products that both improve, and threaten, our very existence.
| 2. Desperately Seeking Explanation |
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