Between cell phones, IM and Facebook, young people nowadays seem, if anything, more connected to one another than they were 30 years ago. Perhaps it is what they see in those outside their social groups that is making them feel less connected. It certainly seems to me that public discourse by older people has become much more vitriolic and biased than it was when I was young.

“Never trust anyone over 30” was the catchphrase when I was 20. Sadly, it seems far more true now than it was then.
“TTLG”
commenting at www.ScientificAmerican.com/Mind

Without Body, No Mind
Siri Carpenter’s piece on embodied cognition, “Body of Thought,” could have benefited from an increased sensitivity to philosophy.

Although research on embodied cognition may have begun relatively recently in the neuroscientific community, there is an important precedent in the research of philosophers Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty in the early decades of the 20th century. Their arguments for the irreducibility of embodiment for any proper understanding of consciousness have been drawn on heavily in recent research in cognitive science. This is evident in the works of Alva Noë, Andy Clark, Antonio Damasio and Shaun Gallagher, among others.

In addition, although early on Carpenter critiques the dualist input-output model of earlier neuroscientific research, later she falls back into using precisely this model when she tries to explain embodiment’s importance by using examples such as the causal effect of certain bodily stimuli (warm coffee and warm feelings). Although such examples are interesting and important in themselves, they miss or trivialize the real point that research into embodied cognition suggests; namely, that cognition in itself is inconceivable without embodiment. It is not simply that the body affects and is affected by conscious experience but that such experience is always and in principle embodied.
James N. McGuirk
Bodø, Norway

Positive Interference
Regarding “A Soothing Touch,” by Ferris Jabr [Head Lines], another explanation for how touch can reduce pain is the “gate ­control theory,” introduced by psychologist Ronald Melzack and neuroscientist Patrick David Wall in 1965, whereby sending many signals to the brain can somehow block out the pain signal or at least reduce its intensity. This theory helps to explain why acupuncture may work, and it is also the basis of chemicals such as BenGay, which are classified as counterirritants—they cause a sensation to compete with the pain sensation. Most people apply the counterirritant to the injured muscle, tendon or bone, but it would be just as effective if placed on a noninjured area.
“tommyoctober”
commenting at www.ScientificAmerican.com/Mind

Attention to Detail
In addition to being a psychotherapist, I’m also an editor and proofreader. As such, I want to congratulate Scientific American Mind for having one of the best copyediting departments around.

Too many magazines, newspapers and printed books contain an abundance of misspellings, grammatical mistakes, dropped words and nonsequential thoughts. Your magazine consistently ranks among the top few that continue to pay attention to the English language. I’m guessing that’s at least partially due to your excellent staff. I, for one, appreciate them!
Batya D. Wininger
via e-mail

2 Comments

1. 1. promytius 09:11 AM 4/29/11

   For Batya; as a pyschologist, editor and proofreader myself, while I agree with your catagorization of poor grammar skills in current media, I would point out that the Internet presence of Sciam is less-than perfect when it comes to grammar and spelling. If the magazine is so good at it (I do not subscribe to the printed version) they need to lend an editor or two to the website, where bad grammar, incomplete thoughts and just plain poor English still can be found. Also I would comment that there's a lot of what I call boarderline science here as well - barely scientific and too "fluffy" to be taken seriously. However, this is a daily visit for me, so there's obviously a lot to learn and read here.

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2. 2. blueheron 12:14 PM 4/29/11

   Promytius, You really don't help your credentials as a proofreader when you include "boarderline" science in your comment. Sometimes we get in a hurry and don't check for typos or such before we hit "submit".

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