The hottest Cognitive Science Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Technology Topics

The Map is not the Territory

do clouds feel vertigo? • 59 implied HN points • 20 Jul 24
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. Understanding the difference between perception and reality is important. Different people have various ways to see the world, and it helps to have multiple perspectives.
  2. Mental models are valuable thinking tools that can help us make sense of complex situations. Organizing these models by subject can guide our decision-making.
  3. Learning about complex adaptive systems can provide a solid foundation for understanding how different parts of a system interact. It's a good starting point for anyone new to the topic.

Thanks But I'll Walk, Scotty

Everything Is Amazing • 1031 implied HN points • 03 Feb 25
🔬 Science Cognitive Science
  1. Animals, like wild mice and rats, have been observed using wheels just for fun, without any obvious benefit. This suggests that play and enjoyment are important to all creatures, not just humans.
  2. Our brains can be easily tricked by illusions like pareidolia, where we see faces in random objects. This highlights how our perception can change quickly based on how we look at things.
  3. Having fun should be a priority in how we interact with each other. Embracing joy can improve our lives and connections, just like it does for animals.

New Ways of Knowing: Nora Bateson, John Vervaeke, Sophie Strand, Jim Rutt, Trish Blain, Jonathan Rowson and Minna Salami

The Bigger Picture • 778 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. We are currently facing a 'meta-crisis' with multiple interconnected challenges, presenting both overwhelming circumstances and opportunities for transformation.
  2. To thrive in today's world, we need to develop a new relationship with complexity, encompassing not just external systems but also our inner worlds.
  3. The online course 'New Ways of Knowing' offers live tuition, small group interactions, and personal growth practices to help navigate complexity, gain new perspectives, and respond to the meta-crisis.

How '2+2=4' works for better AGI

John Ball inside AI • 79 implied HN points • 29 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Pattern recognition is more effective than traditional computation for understanding and learning. The brain can match signs to meanings without needing complex calculations.
  2. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) should focus on how humans learn through sensory recognition and pattern matching instead of just algorithms. This could lead to better understanding and development of AI.
  3. Language and math can be learned through the same pattern-matching methods as the brain uses, which means we can improve human-machine interactions and work towards advanced AGI capabilities.

The Computational Case for Hypocrisy

Living Fossils • 19 implied HN points • 28 Jan 26
🔬 Science Cognitive Science
  1. The mind is a bundle of older, unconscious drives that act first, and a later "press secretary" layer that explains or justifies those actions to others.
  2. Because core drives are deeply integrated and costly to change, evolution added a lightweight adapter (like LoRA in AI) to steer outputs without rewiring the base system.
  3. Hypocrisy is thus an efficient solution: layering explanations over raw impulses preserves survival functions while enabling social norms. AI models reveal this split by showing internal impulses versus the polished outputs.
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Moralistic Punishment Evolved to Prevent Cycles of Revenge

Living Fossils • 28 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
🔬 Science Cognitive Science
  1. Moral judgment often drives people to punish because punishment is a way to stop cycles of revenge; when everyone agrees a set penalty settles a dispute, further attacks become illegitimate.
  2. Because humans form alliances, fights can quickly escalate and harm many people, so shared rules and sanctions reduce costly internal conflict and group vulnerability.
  3. Across cultures there is broad agreement on the order of how serious offenses are but big differences in exact penalties, which suggests punishment evolved mainly to coordinate conflict endings rather than to optimize deterrence.

Analyze Brain Regions, not Neurons

John Ball inside AI • 59 implied HN points • 08 Jul 24
🔬 Science Cognitive Science
  1. It's better to study brain regions rather than just neurons because brain regions are responsible for specific functions, and damage to these regions leads to predictable problems.
  2. AI development has focused too much on the workings of individual neurons instead of understanding how brain regions connect and work together as a system.
  3. Understanding meaning is crucial for AI to function like human brains, as language and thought come from the brain's ability to store and connect experiences.

Reflections on studying Large Language Models

Philosophy bear • 393 implied HN points • 24 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. It's important to understand what Large Language Models (LLMs) can currently do and limit excessive philosophical concerns. Focusing on their real capabilities helps us appreciate their strengths and weaknesses better.
  2. Critics often overlook the achievements of LLMs, making broad claims without specific evidence of what these models can't do. A careful look at their limitations and abilities is needed for a fair assessment.
  3. When thinking about LLMs, we should be cautious about using complex concepts like 'thinking' or 'creativity.' It's better to focus on what these models can actually accomplish instead of getting caught up in vague definitions.

Psychology’s Greatest Misses (Part 1/3)

Living Fossils • 31 implied HN points • 07 Jan 26
🔬 Science Cognitive Science
  1. The replication crisis is mainly a failure of methods and weak evidence, not a need for new grand theories; psychology needs better procedures and rigor to make its findings reliable.
  2. Many popular psychology ideas are unsupported or oversimplified—common claims about reading instruction, power posing, stages of grief, stereotype threat, and transference often don’t hold up and can mislead practice.
  3. People’s responses depend more on the relationship and context than on fixed traits; concepts like attachment work better as changeable strategies that vary across situations.

25 Useful Ideas for 2025

The Prism • 877 implied HN points • 02 Jan 25
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. Being too focused on what we hate in politics makes us unhappy. Instead, we should think about what we stand for and what we can support positively.
  2. Markets and services can start off great for users but may turn worse as they become more focused on profits over their customers. We should be aware of this shift in priorities.
  3. To truly learn something well, we should try to teach it. Teaching others helps deepen our understanding and makes information stick better.

Introducing Deep Symbolics

John Ball inside AI • 59 implied HN points • 02 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Deep Symbolics (DS) aims to improve upon Deep Learning (DL) by incorporating how brains work, especially in understanding and using symbols rather than just statistics. This is important for developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
  2. Unlike traditional DL systems that learn in a single training run, Deep Symbolics can continuously learn and adapt, similar to how humans pick up new knowledge and skills throughout life.
  3. Deep Symbolics focuses on creating a more brain-like model by using hierarchical and bidirectional patterns, which improves its ability to process language and resolve ambiguities better than current AI systems.

How - and Why - To Read...

The Ruffian • 805 implied HN points • 04 Jan 25
📚 Literature Cognitive Science
  1. Reading is becoming less common, and many adults struggle with literacy today. This decline is linked to the rise of social media and digital content.
  2. Literacy is not just about reading and writing; it's vital for clear thinking and understanding complex ideas. Without it, discussions can become shallow and less informed.
  3. In a world where fewer people read deeply, those who do will stand out and have an advantage. Practicing reading helps build important thinking skills that are valuable in many areas of life.

How to make a map of your mind

Austin Kleon • 3577 implied HN points • 02 Nov 21
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. To get your thoughts flowing when you're stuck, try making a mind map. Start in the middle of the page with a word or image, then branch out from there.
  2. This method helps you get ideas out of your head quickly and allows you to see connections between them that you might miss while writing normally.
  3. You can do this on a small scale in a notebook or go big on a wall or whiteboard. Starting in the middle can jog your creativity and help you dive right into your ideas.

Reflections: my class about LLMs and Cognitive Science

The Counterfactual • 139 implied HN points • 17 Apr 24
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. A new class on Large Language Models (LLMs) was created to help Cognitive Science students understand the intersection of AI and human cognition, especially after the popularity of technologies like ChatGPT.
  2. The course covered the history and technical foundations of LLMs, with hands-on labs and discussions that helped students think critically about their societal impacts and ethical concerns.
  3. For future classes, there's a desire to expand the content, particularly by adding discussions on topics like tokenization and exploring more philosophical aspects of LLMs.

Why do I forget jobs I have completed?

Brain Pizza • 728 implied HN points • 31 Dec 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Cognitive Science
  1. People often forget what they did at work, even if they were busy. This can make it hard to recall specific tasks later.
  2. Our brains sometimes have trouble accessing completed tasks from memory. It's like they get filed away and are hard to find when we need them.
  3. The Zeigarnik Effect explains that we tend to remember unfinished tasks better than completed ones. This means we might focus more on what’s still left to do rather than what has already been accomplished.

Smarter thinking in everyday life

Brain Pizza • 662 implied HN points • 16 Jan 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Cognitive Science
  1. Understanding how your brain works helps you deal with daily problems better. This means recognizing your own thinking patterns can improve your decision-making.
  2. By knowing common biases and habits, you can improve how you think and behave. This helps you make better choices and reach your goals more effectively.
  3. Small changes in your thinking can lead to big improvements in life. Using these insights helps you shape your actions and make smarter decisions daily.

Turing Coda: From The AI Mailbag

Technohumanism • 19 implied HN points • 06 Aug 24
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. The term 'artificial intelligence' was created as a marketing concept and doesn’t fully capture the complexities of human consciousness. Imitation isn't the same as true intelligence or awareness.
  2. Desire and emotions are central to human thinking, which machines try to replicate but can't truly understand. It's not enough for a machine to just perform tasks; it must have human-like motivations and feelings.
  3. The debate on whether humans are just machines reveals a longing for certainty in our understanding of consciousness. People act with free will, which challenges the idea that we are purely mechanical beings.

AI and neuroscience

Technically • 21 implied HN points • 13 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Neural networks are deliberately inspired by the brain: they use many simple "neurons" wired together to detect patterns and process information.
  2. This brain-inspired approach has a long history and has been applied to real problems since early work by neuroscientists and engineers, showing the idea actually works in practice.
  3. The brain is still poorly understood, so AI only roughly approximates biological brains, and many researchers think learning more about the brain could be key to building far more powerful intelligence.

LLMs and the "not" problem

The Counterfactual • 119 implied HN points • 19 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. LLMs, like ChatGPT, struggle with negation. They often don't understand requests to remove something from an image and can still include it.
  2. Human understanding of negation is complex, as people process negative statements differently than positive ones. We might initially think about what is being negated before understanding the actual meaning.
  3. Giving LLMs more time to think, or breaking down their reasoning, can improve their performance. This shows that they might need support to mimic human understanding more closely.

Essay Club: The Origins of Cognitive Thought by B. F. Skinner

Mind & Mythos • 199 implied HN points • 16 Dec 23
📖 Philosophy Cognitive Science
  1. Skinner believed that all behaviors, including thoughts and language, are learned through our environment. He claimed that we respond to rewards and punishments, shaping how we act and think.
  2. He thought that understanding our feelings and thoughts is best achieved by looking at the history and meaning of the words we use to describe them. The words we choose reveal a lot about our experiences and behaviors.
  3. Skinner emphasized the importance of focusing on observable behavior in psychology. He felt that many internal mental states are too complicated and not easily measurable, so we should concentrate on what we can see and test.

Why am I bad at Scrabble?

Trevor Klee’s Newsletter • 373 implied HN points • 15 Jan 25
📚 Literature Cognitive Science
  1. Being good at Scrabble isn't just about having a large vocabulary or great spelling skills. It's more about understanding the specific rules and structure of the game.
  2. Scrabble requires a different type of thinking that is more linear and bounded, which can be challenging for those who excel in creative and associative thinking.
  3. This kind of thinking challenge is similar for both people and language models. They can be great at connecting ideas but struggle with systematic tasks like Scrabble.

The First Principles of Uncertainty

Deep Pulusani - Risk • 222 implied HN points • 01 May 25
📖 Philosophy Cognitive Science
  1. Uncertainty is a normal part of life and can actually help us stay alert and learn new things. It's important to accept that some things are unpredictable, which makes it easier to handle tough situations.
  2. When making decisions, it helps to separate uncertainties that can be reduced by gaining more information from those that can't be controlled. This way, we can focus on what we can change instead of feeling overwhelmed.
  3. Taking action is a great way to reduce uncertainty. Even small steps can lead to new insights and help us feel more confident in our choices.

Mondays with the Machine: Thinking Out Loud About the Current "AI" Boom-Bubble

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 169 implied HN points • 02 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. New technologies like AI often cause panic as people worry about their impact, similar to how calculators were once banned in schools. Over time, we learn to use these tools responsibly.
  2. AI chatbots can seem human-like, but they are actually complex tools for finding information. Instead of treating them like people, we should learn how to use them effectively for our needs.
  3. While AI can generate a lot of ideas quickly, it lacks the depth and truthfulness that history provides. History gives us valuable lessons, but AI can still help spark new thoughts and start conversations.

Humans—and GPT-4—are predictably irrational

The Counterfactual • 219 implied HN points • 07 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Humans often make decisions based on emotions and biases, rather than pure logic. This means they're not always rational, which is important to understand.
  2. Large language models like GPT-4 can show similar irrational behaviors. They can make mistakes in judgment much like humans do, which gives insight into how we think.
  3. The way people attribute beliefs to others can change based on the situation. When faced with strong pressures, people are less likely to jump to conclusions about someone's beliefs.

Do Large Language Models have a "theory of mind"?

The Counterfactual • 219 implied HN points • 14 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Large language models (LLMs) show some ability to understand the beliefs of other characters in scenarios, indicating a form of Theory of Mind. This means they can predict behaviors based on what a character knows or believes.
  2. However, LLMs don't perform as well as humans on these tasks, suggesting their understanding is not as deep or reliable. They score above chance but below the typical human accuracy.
  3. Research on LLMs and Theory of Mind is ongoing, raising questions about how these models process mental states compared to humans and if traditional tests for mentalizing are sufficient.

What Makes Humans Special?

Meaning || Matter • 3 HN points • 04 Sep 24
📖 Philosophy Cognitive Science
  1. Humans are unique because we can reason and make moral choices, which sets us apart from animals. Unlike other creatures, we think about what is right and wrong and have the ability to act on those thoughts.
  2. Children develop important social skills like helping and empathy at a very young age. They naturally want to support others and understand emotions, showing they care about feelings even before they can talk.
  3. Humans create complex cultures that build trust and cooperation among large groups. This ability to share knowledge and norms allows us to work together, unlike most animals that mainly rely on small, familiar groups.

Edu-Snippets

The Science of Learning • 219 implied HN points • 24 Jul 23
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. Retrieval practice helps all students remember what they learned better, whether they know a lot or a little about a topic. It involves recalling information, like through quizzes, and boosts memory retention.
  2. Studying over spaced intervals is more effective than cramming all at once. Mixing up different subjects or topics during study sessions can also improve learning by making it more engaging.
  3. Many college students don't realize how beneficial spacing and mixing subjects can be for their studying. Teaching them about these techniques can help them study smarter and remember better.

How to Understand Human Behavior (Part 4/4)

Living Fossils • 13 implied HN points • 22 Dec 25
🔬 Science Cognitive Science
  1. Situations usually explain behavior more than personality or personal history, so fixing people often means fixing the environments they live and work in.
  2. Social incentives and reputational dynamics often drive choices more than material payoffs, so effective interventions must account for signaling, status, and local norms.
  3. Therapy and rehabilitation tend to work by changing a person’s social situation and incentives rather than just teaching skills, so redesigning social environments (while keeping norms of accountability) is a more reliable path to lasting change.

Tools for thought in your OODA loop

Subconscious • 949 implied HN points • 23 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. The OODA loop consists of observe, orient, decide, and act, crucial for agency in a cybernetic system.
  2. Fast transients and maintaining awareness are key to disorienting adversaries and maintaining agency.
  3. Tools for thought expand awareness, build memory, and increase bandwidth for synthesis, essential for navigating complex environments.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: A Cybernetic Perspective

Mind & Mythos • 259 implied HN points • 31 Mar 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Cognitive Science
  1. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) helps people deal with mental health issues by changing negative thoughts and behaviors. It focuses on understanding one’s feelings and gradually facing fears to feel better.
  2. The Cybernetic Theory of Psychopathology suggests that mental health issues relate to how well a person's goals and strategies match their experiences. If a person struggles to meet their goals, it can lead to anxiety and depression.
  3. In therapy, helping clients identify their goals and tackle their negative thoughts is key. Techniques like behavioral experiments and scheduling enjoyable activities can help clients regain confidence and improve their mood.

Using neuro-imaging and language models to decode thoughts

The Counterfactual • 139 implied HN points • 31 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Researchers are using brain scans, like fMRI, along with language models to decode what people are thinking about or listening to. This could help understand brain activity better.
  2. The technology could support people who can't speak, like stroke patients, by interpreting their thoughts into language. However, it's not perfect and needs more development.
  3. There are concerns about privacy, as this technology might one day read thoughts against a person’s will. But for now, people can consciously resist the decoding to some extent.

Results from poll #1

The Counterfactual • 79 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. A new paid option allows subscribers to vote on topics for future articles. This way, readers can influence the content being created.
  2. This month's poll showed that readers chose a study on using language models to measure text readability. This will be the focus of upcoming research and articles.
  3. In addition to the readability study, there will be future posts about the history of AI, learning over different timescales, and a survey to learn more about the audience's interests.

Moving Beyond System 1 and 2

Living Fossils • 19 implied HN points • 12 Nov 25
📖 Philosophy Cognitive Science
  1. System 1 thinking is quick and automatic, but it can lead to mistakes, especially if we don't take a moment to reflect before making judgments.
  2. People often react based on social cues rather than pure logic, which means they might prioritize fitting in over careful thinking.
  3. Our minds operate with different modules that are activated by specific situations, so we might not always be 'lazy'—we’re just responding to the context we find ourselves in.

GPT-4 is "WEIRD"—what should we do about it?

The Counterfactual • 59 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4 often reflect the views of people from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) cultures. This means they may not accurately represent other cultures or perspectives.
  2. When using LLMs for research, it's important to consider who they are modeling. We should check if the data they were trained on includes a variety of cultures, not just a narrow subset.
  3. To improve LLMs and make them more representative, researchers should focus on creating models that include diverse languages and cultural contexts, and be clear about their limitations.

The Counterfactual's year in review, and an announcement

The Counterfactual • 79 implied HN points • 29 Dec 23
🔬 Science Cognitive Science
  1. The Counterfactual had a successful year, growing its readership significantly after a popular post about large language models. It’s great to see how sharing knowledge can attract more people.
  2. Key posts focused on topics like construct validity and the understanding of large language models. These discussions are crucial for improving how we evaluate and understand AI technology.
  3. In 2024, the plan includes more posts and introducing paid subscriptions that allow subscribers to vote on future research projects. This will encourage community participation in exploring interesting ideas.

Disillusionment and Learning

The Memory Palace • 19 implied HN points • 28 May 24
📖 Philosophy Cognitive Science
  1. People often join groups or movements for positive reasons, but they may leave due to internal issues that arise later on.
  2. When someone changes their beliefs, returning to previous beliefs is complicated and often not the same as before.
  3. Revisiting old beliefs or habits can be an active process rather than a passive one; it's about reaching back, not just slipping back into old patterns.

Just Don't Be Stupid

Polymathic Being • 65 implied HN points • 29 Jun 25
📖 Philosophy Cognitive Science
  1. Inversion is about looking at problems from a different angle to avoid mistakes. Instead of just chasing success, think about what could go wrong and how to prevent it.
  2. Applying inversion helps in both technology and psychology by allowing us to see potential failures. This way, we can develop better solutions and reduce fear of the unknown.
  3. A key part of inversion is acknowledging negative outcomes. By thinking about what we dread and planning for it, we can manage life's ups and downs better.

Conversation between Robert Wright and Google Gemini 2.0 Experimental Advanced

Nonzero Newsletter • 146 implied HN points • 03 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Cognitive Science
  1. Humans are complex; they can create beautiful things but also harm each other. It's a mix of potential and flaws that makes you interesting.
  2. To improve, people should focus on understanding different perspectives. This helps in communicating and resolving conflicts more effectively.
  3. Overcoming biases like confirmation bias or in-group bias is important for developing empathy. It helps you see the world from others' views and creates a better society.

Edu-Snippets

The Science of Learning • 139 implied HN points • 07 Jun 23
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. Giving students worked examples in math can help them feel less anxious and learn better. It makes math easier for those who usually struggle with it.
  2. Being in nature can help people feel more relaxed and focused, while watching videos of nature doesn't have the same benefits. For real restoration, you need real nature.
  3. Brain training apps may help you get better at their specific games, but they don’t really make you smarter in everyday life. They haven't shown strong proof of boosting general brain skills.

What Had I Hoped to Teach This Just-Past Semester?

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 130 implied HN points • 16 Dec 24
🚌 Education Cognitive Science
  1. Understanding history is crucial for making sense of current and future human affairs. It helps us to see patterns and learn from past mistakes.
  2. Students should learn to think critically about economic issues. This includes analyzing how economic instability relates to political decisions and vice versa.
  3. History teaches us to look both backward and forward in time, which is a valuable skill. It allows us to make better decisions by using past examples to inform our understanding of present circumstances.