<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><br><div><div>On Jan 25, 2014, at 2:33 PM, Richard Loosemore <<a href="mailto:rloosemore@susaro.com">rloosemore@susaro.com</a>> wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite">
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1) Re. Ptolemy's Epicycles, and the bankruptcy of that approach to
psychology/neuroscience. <br>
<br>Treat the discovery
of theories not as the work of bright individuals (one theory per
individual per lifetime) but as a process that is quasi-automated,
and which yields a thousand theories a day.<br></div></blockquote><div><br></div>seems so painful when the brain is right there - begging to be considered on its own terms (I think).</div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
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2) Re Brain Imaging.<br>
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In the Loosemore and Harley paper I pointed out the massive impact
that a slightly off-beat theory can have. If the functional units
of the brain are actually "virtual" entities that are allowed to
move around on a physical network of column-like units,</div></blockquote><div><br></div>pause here, with a genuflect to a very bad idea (cortical columns) which has disrupted thinking about cerebral cortical mechanisms for years - and no, I don’t want to start that debate again - just look at the literature for any evidence that cortex is built of a serious of independent functional columnar units. It isn’t there.</div><div><br></div><div><blockquote type="cite"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"><br>
My conclusion is with James, and with Juyang Weng, who started the
discussion. The Big Data/Brain-Simulation-Or-Bust approach is a
gigantic boondoggle.<br></div></blockquote><div><br></div>Little doubt about that - </div><div><br></div><div>I don’t know if they taped and put on the web the big talk about it at the neuroscience meeting - but take a look in case you wonder. (actually, I only lasted about 20 minutes myself).</div><div><br></div><div>:-)</div><div><br></div><div>Jim</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
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Richard Loosemore<br>
Mathematical and Physical Science<br>
Wells College<br>
Aurora NY 13026<br>
USA<br>
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On 1/25/14, 12:05 PM, james bower wrote:
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Hi Jose,
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<div>Ah, neuroimaging - don’t get me started. Not all, but a
great deal of neuroimaging has become a modern form of
phrenology IMHO, distorting not only neuroscience, but it turns
out, increasingly business too. To wit:</div>
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