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The Happiness of Pursuit

Cognitive science for the trip of your life

Artificial Intelligence
AI We There Yet?

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on March 11, 2016

Tasks in which AI systems excel—board games, erudition quizzes, image classification—do not loom large in human behavior. Real AI will need some real behavior and brain science.

Tasks in which AI systems excel—board games, erudition quizzes, image classification—do not loom large in human behavior. Real AI will need some real behavior and brain science.

Persuasion
How to Make a Corporation Happy

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on October 18, 2012

This election year saw a heated debate regarding the question of whether or not corporations are entitled to the same rights as people to express themselves and to influence the political process. Crucial evidence that bears on this question can be gleaned by considering the cognitive dynamics of a corporate mind alongside that of a human.

This election year saw a heated debate regarding the question of whether or not corporations are entitled to the same rights as people to express themselves and to influence the political process. Crucial evidence that bears on this question can be gleaned by considering the cognitive dynamics of a corporate mind alongside that of a human.

Environment
We're More Than the Sum of Our Parts

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on September 18, 2012

Consciousness inheres in the dynamics of neural activity and its interaction with the environment. This simple insight has startling implications for those of us who hope to survive the death of our bodies by being "downloaded" into electronic hardware.

Consciousness inheres in the dynamics of neural activity and its interaction with the environment. This simple insight has startling implications for those of us who hope to survive the death of our bodies by being "downloaded" into electronic hardware.

Religion
Gateway Drugs for the Masses

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on August 17, 2012

There are behaviors which, if adopted by the masses, clearly serve the interests of the ruling plutocracy. Should we be surprised that these include some beloved spiritual practices?

There are behaviors which, if adopted by the masses, clearly serve the interests of the ruling plutocracy. Should we be surprised that these include some beloved spiritual practices?

Happiness
The Human Roots and Human Cost of American Plutocracy

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on June 12, 2012

Veterans return to homelessness from a bloody war instigated by political puppets of war-profiteering corporations? Looks like the shining city upon the hill could use some cognitive behavioral therapy.

Veterans return to homelessness from a bloody war instigated by political puppets of war-profiteering corporations? Looks like the shining city upon the hill could use some cognitive behavioral therapy.

Cognition
"What Do You Mean... Human?"

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on May 7, 2012

Does a dissolution of all desires make a person more than, or merely other than, human? And what would happiness be without the pursuit?

Does a dissolution of all desires make a person more than, or merely other than, human? And what would happiness be without the pursuit?

Environment
The Ghost Constructed by the Machine

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on March 25, 2012

The physical characteristics of the human body place severe constraints on how the brain computes the mind, thereby shaping the ghost constructed by the machine.

The physical characteristics of the human body place severe constraints on how the brain computes the mind, thereby shaping the ghost constructed by the machine.

Cognition
Livin' La Vida Virtual

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on February 19, 2012

We look at the world through two eyes, but see it as one. This fact has interesting implications regarding the question of whether or not the world we perceive is real.

We look at the world through two eyes, but see it as one. This fact has interesting implications regarding the question of whether or not the world we perceive is real.

Happiness
The Machineries of Joy

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on January 23, 2012

Coming to terms with our instinctive yearning for the future is a good recipe for making the most of the only time during which we are alive: the present.

Coming to terms with our instinctive yearning for the future is a good recipe for making the most of the only time during which we are alive: the present.

Dopamine
Call to Depart

Shimon Edelman Ph.D. on January 4, 2012

You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d — you hardly
settle yourself to satisfaction, before you are call’d by an
irresistible call to depart. [
Leaves of Grass: Song of the Open Road (82:11)
— WALT WHITMAN]

You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d — you hardly
settle yourself to satisfaction, before you are call’d by an
irresistible call to depart. [
Leaves of Grass: Song of the Open Road (82:11)
— WALT WHITMAN]