Studies
I did my formal studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where they have an incredible Cognitive Science program — an interdisciplinary degree spanning six different fields: psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, and computer science. Essentially, the degree explores intelligence and the mind from each of these six perspectives:
Psychology
What is the mind from a behavioral perspective?
Related Projects, Papers & Coursework
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Term Paper — Cognitive Science 100 / Psych 120: Basic Issues in Cognition (Prof. Davina Chan)
Theoretical foundations and current controversies in cognitive science, including perception, imagery, memory, categorization, thinking, judgment, and development, considered from the perspectives of philosophy, psychology, computer science, and physiology, with emphasis on the computational model of mind.
Neuroscience
What is the mind from a chemical and biological perspective? Simply, its biological substrate — the brain.
Related Projects, Papers & Coursework
- Coming soon.
Philosophy
How are the mind and brain connected? What does it mean to have intelligence? To what extent can you have one (brain, mind, intelligence) and not another? You learn to ask questions that may not have answers, and to build logical proofs.
Related Projects, Papers & Coursework
- Coming soon.
Anthropology
How did our brains evolve? How did the mind evolve? Did they evolve together? Could the brain have evolved as it did without consciousness ever emerging? How have different attributes — physical, cultural, biological, chemical — evolved differently in different places? And what does the future hold, now that we’re evolving our minds much faster than our bodies can physically keep up?
Related Projects, Papers & Coursework
- Coming soon.
Linguistics
We are “a symbolic species” — while language in some form isn’t unique to humans, the way we use it might be. Or, seen through another lens, language can seem like something almost distinct from humans altogether, something evolving on its own — maybe instead of humans evolving and then using language, we evolved biologically for language.
Related Projects, Papers & Coursework
- Coming soon.
Computer Science
And how can we model all of this — the mind, the brain, language, emotions, choices, evolution? You learn the basics of programming, logic, and simulation.
Related Projects, Papers & Coursework
- Coming soon.
Other Classes
Explore notes and essays from other classes on other topics, like literature and statistics, here.