The problem of mental overpopulation is pretty easy to see. It is visible in situations like freezing on a test, cramping on the field, or overthrowing the first baseman. Basically, those times when you overthink or try to do too much in a situation, those thoughts actually become detrimental and stop us from performing as well as expected. Philosophers Ruben and Dreyfus do a really good job of highlighting this problem in the Causal Theory of Action. Thinkers like Davidson and Clarke do not do enough to solve this problem of mental overpopulation. They attempt to show that the Causal Theory of Action forms the foundation on which we act. The problem of mental overpopulation reveals the cracks in the casual theory’s foundation. Thus, the Causal Theory of Action cannot withstand the problem of mental overpopulation.
The Causal Theory of Action is one way that philosophers try to explain why humans act the way we do. Davidson is really the first to formulate and popularize the theory. He believed a person’s action was the result of a primary reason and belief under a description. In other words, “the primary reason for an action is its cause” (Davidson 686). Primary reasons consist of pro attitudes and beliefs, “which are states or dispositions, not events; therefore they cannot be causes” (Davidson 693). It is hard for me to see the cause-effect relationship Davidson talks about at times. He tries to create a causal explanation for action, but does not fully connect the dots between primary reasons and actions for every situation. He tries to create a pretty generalizable formula to explain human action. But it does not seem to apply in every situation. This is where Ruben and Dreyfus and the problem of mental overpopulation seem...
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...n actions. People act to gain expertise of a skill and bring to themselves a certain sense of fulfillment until they try to master another task. To the dismay of thinkers like Davidson and Clarke, sometimes, thinking just gets in the way.
Works Cited
Clarke, Randolph. "Skilled Activity and the Causal Theory of Action." Philosophy and
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Davidson, Donald. "Actions, Reasons, and Causes." Journal of Philosophy. 60.23 (1963): 685-
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Montero, Barbara. "The Myth of 'Just Do It'." New York Times [New York] 09 Jun 2013, Opinionator. Print.
...dson, ‘Thinking Causes’, in Mental Causation, ed. John Heil and Alfred Mele (Oxford, Clarendon Press: 1993) p. 13.
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. W.W. Norton & Company. New York, London. 1981.
A determinist’s reply would state that humans are ignorant of the forces around them that are actually controlling their behavior in this sense; man becomes a puppet to irresistible forces acting upon him. Neither the free will nor the determinism theories can be proven to be wholly causal of human behavior. Alternate theories are formulated that incorporate main points of free will and determinism that appear...
“The brain in the stand.” New York Times Magazine. 11 Mar. 2007 elibrary. Web. 02 apr. 2014.
The population of the world is nearing eight billion people. The population is taking over the world, and the food is diminishing. The population is growing too large for the planet to sustain. There must be rules about the growth of the population if the human race is to survive and grow together. If the race that is humanity wishes to survive, population control must be in effect.
It gives adults and children the advantage of turning a simple idea into reality. Possessing the power to possibly save the world or destroy it can come from just one simple thought that someone has in the middle of the day. Humans come up with ideas all the time. So how do you make these concepts come to life? By connecting counterfactual thinking with causal knowledge. How imagining a possible world is related to how one event causes the next event to happen. Once somebody can see how one event is triggered by another they can use counterfactual thinking to easily see into the future. Counterfactual thinking can also create worlds with the other options that they came up with and show them what kind of world that would have been like. Causal thinking allows to change the world in the way that they want. They have the power to intervene. Intervening creates a probable world and then they will take the initiative to the change the world to make their possibility real. “…having a causal theory of the world makes it possible to consider alternative solutions to a problem, and their consequences, before you actually implement them, and it lets you make a much wider and more effective range of interventions.” (Gopnik 173). What Gopnik means by this quote is that by using the causal knowledge you have on the present world it allows people to have a better intervention on the
Sperry R. (1993) The Impact and Promise of the Cognitive Revolution. American Psychologist 48 (8) 878-885
Schlager, Neil, and Josh Lauer. "The History, Development, and Importance of Personal Computers." Science and Its Times 7 (2001): n. pag. Print.
Humankind will always have to overcome challenges. Three key challenges that we are currently facing and require immediate action are overpopulation, land use, as well as cultural conflicts. These issues have been prevalent topics in the media in recent years. Unless we start taking the steps to address these concerns, we will continue to see these topics in the media for years to come.
Paul, E. Geruzzi, “Ready or Not Computers are Coming to the People”, OA4 Magazine of History, July 2010, 25-28
As our world expands through the growing abilities and applications of computers in our everyday lives, it seems that the role of the computer has been reversed. Before we knew that the computer only understood what we programmed it to understand; however, now the majority of our society is learning more from computers than they are able to input into it. Dumm (1986 p.69)
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: The development of higher mental processes, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Shawn T. Smith’s “The User’s Guide to the Human Mind” shows the way the brain reacts and the reason it reacts to certain events, tendencies, and otherwise work against us in functional pursuits. It helps us to understand why we develop anxiety and depression. He suggests us struggling against unhappy anxious thoughts and make friends with our minds. Smith states “your mind is not supposed to make you happy it’s supposed to help you survive.” The brain has bad habits one is avoiding new experiences two is our brain looks for problems that don’t exist. Smith states that the mind is built in such a way that most of its functions and drives lie outside our control.
The computer evolution has been an amazing one. There have been astonishing achievements in the computer industry, which dates back almost 2000 years. The earliest existence of the computer dates back to the first century, but the electronic computer has only been around for over a half-century. Throughout the last 40 years computers have changed drastically. They have greatly impacted the American lifestyle. A computer can be found in nearly every business and one out of every two households (Hall, 156). Our Society relies critically on computers for almost all of their daily operations and processes. Only once in a lifetime will a new invention like the computer come about.
computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people’s lives for the