LW
Secrets of the eliminati
Scott argues that mental states like beliefs and preferences may not exist as unified entities in the brain, but rather emerge from collections of behaviors and contextual responses.
6 min read 829 words
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connectionism
Essays tagged “connectionism”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Essays on connectionism
3 essaysLW
Connectionism: Modeling the mind with neural networks
Scott explains connectionism as a neural network-based theory of mind that evolved from spreading activation models, showing how it resolves philosophical problems and mirrors brain function better than classical computing approaches.
15 min read 2,251 words
LW
Behaviorism: Beware Anthropomorphizing Humans
Scott defends behaviorism as a sophisticated methodological approach that avoided using mental phenomena as fundamental explanations, connecting it to reinforcement learning and the idea that minds are behavior-executors rather than utility-maximizers.
8 min read 1,118 words