E37: What is an Explanation? - Part 2

In part two of our conversation on what counts as an explanation in science, we pickup with special guest David Barack giving his thoughts on the "model–mechanism–mapping" criteria for explanation. This leads us into a lengthy discussion on explanatory versus phenomenological (or "descriptive") models. We ask if there truly is a distinction between these model classes or if a sufficiently good description will end up being explanatory. We illustrate these points with examples such as the Nernst equation, the Hodgkin-Huxley model of the action potential, and multiple uses of Difference of Gaussians in neuroscience. Throughout, we ask such burning questions as: can a model be explanatory if the people who made it thought it wasn't? are diagrams explanations? and, is gravity descriptive or mechanistic?

You can listen to E37: What is an Explanation? - Part 2 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

E37: What is an Explanation? - Part 2 is an episode from Unsupervised Thinking by Neuro Collective.

This episode is 57:14 long.

This episode was published on Sep 27, 2018.

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