Skeptic: Adam's Maxim and Spinoza's Coniecture

نویسنده

  • MICHAEL SHERMER
چکیده

PH O TO G RA PH B Y BR A D SW O N ET Z; IL LU ST RA TI O N B Y M AT T CO LL IN S During an early episode of the über-pyrotechnic television series MythBusters, Adam Savage was busted by the camera crew for misremembering his predictions of the probability of an axle being ripped out of a car, à la American Graffi ti. When confronted with the unmistakable video evidence of his error, Adam sardonically rejoined: “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” Skepticism is the fi ne art and technical science of understanding why rejecting everyone else’s reality and substituting your own almost always results in a failed belief system. Where in the brain do such belief processes unfold? To fi nd out, neuroscientists Sam Harris, Sameer A. Sheth and Mark S. Cohen employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of 14 adults at the University of California, Los Angeles, Brain Mapping Center. The researchers presented the subjects with a series of statements designed to be plainly true, false or undecidable. In response, the volunteers were to press a button indicating their belief, disbelief or uncertainty. For example:

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تاریخ انتشار 2008