Group 6
English 21003
Professor Zayas
Jargon to Layperson Translation Summary
February 9th, 2022
The article, “The End of Science? On Human Cognitive Limitations and How to Overcome Them” written by Maarten Boudry, Michael Vlerick, and Taner Edis, debunks the idea that humans are cognitively closed. New-mysterians believe that the capabilities of the human mind are limited, leaving many questions of the universe we live in unanswered. Naturalists disagree, believing that we are able to extend the reach of our minds and come to understand the world we live in over time. By looking at the difference between representational access and imaginative understanding, as well as the different modalities of cognitive limitations, naturalists aim to prove that it is still too early to determine what the limitations of human understanding are.
Looking back into representational access vs imaginative understanding we can see how humans are never completely cognitively closed. Mathematicians cannot imagine a tesseract, but they can make sense of what a tesseract is by having their own representations of the world. This has allowed them to derive geometric properties such as the number of faces. Students during an exam tend to feel very overwhelmed because they feel like they must know every single detail on the exam. Students push themselves to memorize so much that when it comes to the day of the exam, they forget the important information. Instead, students should focus on understanding the major concepts and then use these concepts they have in their minds to answer questions that relate to that specific concept. This allows students to study smart instead of studying hard.
When analyzing the various elements that contribute to cognitive limitations, the Mysterians focused on the constraints of an isolated human brain. The Naturalists, on the other hand, built their case on the concept of distributed cognition, which is the idea that a network of human brains can achieve a higher level of understanding than a single brain. This ability to share our cognitive resources, according to cultural evolution scholars, is the key to our success as a society since it permits the emergence of a cultural design that is more intelligent than any human agent. According to the Naturalist ideology, there appears to be no limit to what human intelligence can achieve collectively, so it is reasonable to think that even the most inconceivable questions will still have an answer. Furthermore, technological improvements have transformed physical processes into information that is accessible to our human senses, making it an important tool for broadening our minds and gaining knowledge.
Naturalists, being optimistic, aim to prove that it is too early to make a statement on whether or not science will come to a halt. The naturalists make a thought-provoking statement in which they explain that if aliens were to visit and study humans 40,000 years ago and have the mindset of the mysterians the aliens would believe that we would not have the mental capacity to reach the scientific levels we have today. Human brains changing minimally throughout that time period to now can be the answer to how we will reach new heights into the future. Naturalists suppose that with ever-growing technology extending the range of our senses we can overcome the difficulties we may face in coming times in the field of science.
SLIDES
Emily Lanfranco, Brandon Latortue, Irene Quintero, Shirley Tamay
Professor Zayas
Lab Report
February 23, 2022
Introduction:
When it comes to evolution, natural selection plays a significant role. Natural selection is the process by which organisms that are better suited to their environment have a higher chance of surviving, so therefore can produce more offspring. In 1836, Charles Darwin went to the galapagos and discovered that the finches he was observing “although nearly identical in all other ways to mainland finches, had different beaks. Their beaks had adapted to the type of food they ate in order to fill different niches on the Galapagos Islands’ ‘ (Scoville, 2019) Charles Darwin came to the conclusion that advantageous variations/genes were most likely passed down to later generations, while the less dominant genes eventually disappeared. Mutations in animals can be either harmful or beneficial which is why it’s important to remember that natural selection does not necessarily only create the perfect organism. Natural selection is “limited by a population’s existing genetic variance and whatever new alleles arise through mutation and gene flow.” (Lumen Learning), meaning it cannot create anything from scratch. In this experiment, we examined how animals with different mutations survive in specific environmental conditions. The environmental conditions choices included a snowy day, sunny day, wolves, tough food, and limited food. As a group we had to try all the conditions to see how the survival rate of the bunnies varied since new traits and adaptations are always occurring. Overall, we hypothesized that if the bunnies were placed in conditions where there were wolves, limited food and snow then they would have a lower chance of survival within the population.
Methods & Materials:
You will be given a platform to virtually experiment with the factors that allow a population of bunnies to survive. You are responsible for when the prey hunts the bunnies, the type of mutations that affect the population ( fur, ears, teeth), the amount and quality of the food, as well as the climate the bunnies live in. While experimenting you will be able to see the population’s growth via a chart, the proportions of the bunnies, as well as any selected bunnies pedigree.
Start the lab experiment and add mates for the bunnies population to grow. As the population increases, change factors that will either increase or decrease the amount of bunnies that survive. Attempt to find in what combination do the factors negatively impact the survival rate the most.
Results/Figures:
By examining how animals with different mutations survive in specific environmental conditions, it was possible to gain a better understanding of how natural selection affects populations. In this experiment a total of four trials were run in order to observe the effects of genetic and environmental variations. Throughout the experiment, the recessive genes of the bunnies which included fur, ears, and teeth were observed in all four trials.
Trial 1:
Factors: Snowy environment and limited food
In the first trial, there was a greater population of white-haired bunnies, reaching approximately seventy around the fourth generation. Although there was a limited food supply, the bunny generations were still able to maintain a balanced rate of survival.
Trial 2:
Factors: Snowy environment and wolves
In the second trial, once again the white-haired bunnies had a greater survival rate than the brown-haired population. The white-haired population increased significantly between the third to fifth generation, while the brown-haired population had very minimal changes.
Trial 3:
Factors: Snowy environment, wolves and limited food
In the third trial, it was observed that the brown-haired population did not increase at all over the different generations. The white-haired population had a greater survival rate, however due to the two environmental factors, the population growth was lower when compared to other trials.
Trial 4:
Factors: Sunny environment, wolves and limited food
In the last trial, the environment was changed to a sunny/desert type of weather. While the white-haired population was greater in the first two generations, eventually the brown-haired population increased and dominated the area. Similarly to the previous trial, due to a greater amount of environmental changes, the total population remained lower when compared to the other trials.
Discussion:
Based on the results of our experiments, we see that the bunnie’s survival rate depended on the weather in their environment. Bunnies had an overall lower rate of survival in the sunny environment with the population’s peak being around 59 bunnies compared to a peak of over 70 in the snowy environment. This goes against our hypothesis as we believed that the bunnies will have an overall lower chance of survival in the sunny weather. A possible explanation for these results is the fact that our generation 0 bunnies are both white. We see in our data that in the snowy environment, the white bunnies have a higher survival rate than those with brown fur. This is due to the addition of wolves in the environment. Wolves select pray that seem most vulnerable or weak through visual cues and smell (“How Wolves Hunt”, 2019). In the winter weather, the parent bunnies’ white fur provides an advantage as they are able to hide from predators, allowing them to reproduce more. However, in the sunny weather, their white fur makes them easily spotted by predators, reducing the amount of bunnies produced. The effects of the wolves hunting style is seen further when looking at the survival rate of each fur color. In the winter weather we see that the white bunnies have a much greater population than those with brown fur. In fact, the brown bunny population dies off when looking at later generations. However, using the same conditions and mutations in the sunny environment, we see that the brown bunnies have a much greater chance of survival, with the white bunnies eventually dying out.
Conclusion:
The purpose of this lab was to analyze how bunnies with different mutations survive in specific environmental conditions. We found that natural selection played a big role, with certain mutations dying out as they are not well suited for the environment the bunnies are presented with. In the snowy environment, the survival rate amongst bunnies with brown fur was low as they were easily spotted by their predators, the wolves, who hunt using sight. In the sunny environment however, the bunnies with brown fur had a much higher survival rate as they were able to blend in with their environment better. We also found that overall survival rate was highest in the snowy weather, however this could be explained as the parent bunnies both had white fur, allowing them to better hide from the wolves and reproduce more.
References:
How wolves hunt. Living with Wolves. (2019, April 24). Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.livingwithwolves.org/how-wolves-hunt/#:~:text=Wolves%20are%20opportunists.,are%20 endurance%20or%20coursing%20 predators.
Learning, Lumen. “Biology for Majors I.” Lumen, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-biology1/chapter/mutations-and-evolution/.
Scoville, H. (2019, June 26). How finches helped Darwin develop his theory of evolution. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.thoughtco.com/charles-darwins-finches-1224472#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20Galapagos%20finches%20helped,mainland%20finches%2C%20had%20different%20beaks.
Group 6: Shirley, Irene, Brandon and Emily
Professor Zayas
Writing for the Sciences
Science in the Movies Project
3/7/2022
INCEPTION
Introduction:
The film Inception is a sci-fi action thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Eliott Page, and other notable actors. The film was released in 2010 after a nearly ten-year production period. Inception is about a skilled thief named Dom Cobb, who steals beneficial secrets from people when they are subconscious while dreaming. Mal, who is Dom’s wife, loved the idea of dream sharing and invented the use of totems to tell the difference between dream and reality. Dom Cobb is also a fugitive who left his family behind after being falsely accused of Mal’s death. Mal before she threw herself from a building left a statement saying that Cobb is abusive and has been threatening her, which forces Cobb to leave his children behind and flee. Eventually Dom Cobb is offered a chance at redemption to go back to his children. The task does not involve the stealing of ideas from someone’s dream but instead to plant one. Saito asks Dom Cobb to plant the idea to the heir of a strong leader so that he will not want to run his fathers business. Cobb reassembles his team and prepares them for a complicated mission. The one thing that affects the mission and Cobb fails to mention is that memories of Mal keep erupting into his dreams which tends to confuse his reality and dreams. Mal becomes his dangerous enemy as she anticipates Cobb’s every move.
Methods:
Science fiction is a type of genre in which the stories often revolve around future science and technology. Sci-fi films and novels frequently make references to scientific principles; these stories involve partially true, partially made up scientific theories. For example, the writer incorporates elements of Oneirology, the scientific study of dreams, throughout the film. This branch of research seeks to understand the connections between dreams and neurological brain behaviors. While Cobb and his team are able to perform inception, or the implanting of an idea in someone’s mind, in the film through a process of “dream-sharing,” there is no factual or scientific evidence that this is possible in real life (or at least not yet). Despite the plot’s scientific elements, the film’s beautiful and intricate visuals, while not realistic, brought the film to life and depicted the insane reality of how many of our dreams appear. Special effects like these provide a link between fiction and reality.
However, the concept of “lucid-dreaming” is the closest discovery or study that can be compared to this. According to researchers, this type of dreaming refers to dreams in which a person is aware that the events taking place are merely a dream and not a reality. While sleeping, the dreamer may even be able to direct the events of the dream as if they were directing a movie. (Kharti, 2020) This type of dreaming first appeared in the 18th century, when Tibetan Buddhists practiced a technique known as “Dream Yoga,” which essentially aimed to awaken the consciousness while in the dream state. (Turner 2008) Another concept presented in the film that can be partially depicted in science is the ability to implant another person’s idea into the subconscious of a target. While it may not be as cool as it appears in the film, these are methods used by many marketing and advertising firms all over the world. The two most important skills in these processes are explaining the benefits of one’s idea in an unrelated context and planting an undeniable truth in their mind. All with the intention of persuading the listener or buyer to accept the new concept, just as Cobb did with Fischer. (Orzechowski, 2017)
Results:
Throughout the movie Inception we constantly see the main character Cobbs use a device in order for him and his team to collectively be in the same dream. The device used to accomplish such a task, PASIV ( Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous ), seems to be connected to the dreamers via a wire that attaches to a briefcase filled with different types of wires and tubes. Never explaining how the device truly works, once everyone is connected with the briefcase via wires they all share the same dream.
The scientific accuracy for the year this movie was released is subpar to nonexistent. A device that has the ability for people to share dreams is simply not real nor does it seem to ever be real. In the year 2010 when this movie was released there were no scientific breakthroughs involving the use of dream technology. In modern day it is still a heavily debated topic on the true meaning of dreams and why they even occur. The only step forward towards scratching this type of technology is discovering through testing that mice have dreams that can be manipulated and with wishful thinking can be applied to humans.
Although technology is unrealistic, being able to control your own dream is not completely out of the question. There have been multiple accounts of people claiming to have lucid dreams, which is being aware that you are in a dream. The term lucid dreaming is not a new idea with it coming to light in 1913 by a Dutch author and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden. In theory this allows you to control your dreams, which is the closest you will likely get to the fiction in Inception.
Discussion:
The movie Inception has multiple messages spread throughout the film. The film portrays the importance of our thoughts, how they shape who we are and the decisions that we make. Inception emphasizes how our thoughts reveal a lot of information, which is why we see this group tasked with going into the minds of powerful individuals. We see a few instances in which thoughts shaped the individual. Fischer spent his life trying to be like his father, however when fed the idea that his father wanted him to choose his own path, Fischer decided he would not run his father’s company and be a different man. Mal, no longer able to see the line between dream and reality, was given the idea that the world she had lived in for 50 years was fake, and the only way to escape was to die. This thought followed her into reality, manifesting overtime until she was convinced the reality she and Cobbs lived in was not real and she took her own life. The film also highlights the subjectivity of reality. Each character has a totem that they use to try to distinguish dreams from reality. Cobbs is seen multiple times throughout the film spinning a top, with the idea being if the top stops spinning, he is living in reality. However, at the end of the movie, we see that this time Cobb does not wait to see if the top stops spinning. Cobb has chosen his own reality, Nolan’s motive perhaps being to encourage the audience to do the same. The use of sci-fi to portray this message not only brings these messages to the audience’s attention in an interesting way, but let’s them know that it is relevant. The fiction in this movie is not something that is completely out of reach, but involves concepts such as dream sharing and dream mapping which are being studied today.
