E36: What is an Explanation? - Part 1

As scientists, we throw around words like "explanation" a lot. We assume explaining stuff is part of what we're doing when we make and synthesize discoveries. But what does it actually take for something to be an explanation? Can a theory or model be successful without truly being one? How do these questions play out in computational neuroscience specifically? We bring in philosopher-neuroscientist David Barack to tackle this big topic. In part one of the conversation, David describes the historical trajectory of the concept of "explanation" in philosophy. We then take some time to try to define computational neuroscience, and discuss "computational chauvinism": the (extremist) view that the mind could be understood and explained independently of the brain. We end this first half of the conversation by defining the "3M" model of explanation and giving our initial reactions to it.

You can listen to E36: What is an Explanation? - Part 1 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

E36: What is an Explanation? - Part 1 is an episode from Unsupervised Thinking by Neuro Collective.

This episode is 51:28 long.

This episode was published on Sep 26, 2018.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Unsupervised Thinking when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.