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The Mind is a Story that Tells Itself
Where body and world meet
What is it like to be a philosopher of mind? Suzi Travis is a neuroscientist, as well as the editor of the Substack publication When Life Gives You A Brain and an excellent, clear writer. I do not know what it is like to be an expert in this field. My thinking on these topics is insufficiently informed and as such naive but I feel compelled to make it clear at least to myself what I think.
All her articles are fascinating and my latest trigger was this article:
In terms of scientific credentials, I am a chemist and microbiologist, did a minor in behavioural brain research and worked for 2.5 years as a scientist. Possibly the worst scientist who ever lived, but that is another story. For most of my working life, however, I worked as a communication professional.
Both backgrounds fed into my natural pessimism about the clarity of the real world. Chemistry told me very few things are ever completely pure, microbiology taught me that everything is likely to be contaminated, if not now, then soon. And…