Mentalising

Saw a fascinating programme on BBC 2 about autism.

Living with Autism, part of the Horizon series, featuring developmental psychologist Professor Uta Frith.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0404861

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/histmed/audio/neuroscience/frith

Professor Uta Frith is pioneering specialist on autism and has spent her career studying the subject. As well as being interesting as a subject itself, such study is a great insight into all human minds and thinking. Autistic and non autistic people share and don't share certain aspects of understanding, and while much of the autistic scale intrudes into 'normality', the autistic mind perceives some things so differently it is very difficult for us to appreciate.

Frith and her colleague showed an experiment they had devised using very simple animations. Normal minds, and even very young children can easily interpret the movements of the triangles and their interactions - when they are asked to narrate what is happening, they describe one triangle nudging the other, persuading it to move, or else one hiding from the other, and so on. The autistic mind without exception did not get the gist, and described the events so differently - the narrative did not make sense and totally missed the point that everyone else learns to get early in life. Frith call this normal process mentalising, where we understand what is implied.

It occurred to me that so much of art depends upon such mentalising. Without it art is just marks and shading, video is things moving about, and music is noise or sound. I think much of my art depends upon the viewer mentalising. It's quite an insight to think about.

3rd April 2014

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Susan Greenfield book Mind Change.

Greenfield talks of the mind as the "personification of the brain through the experiences you have".
Discusses the virtual world and the implications of search engines on the mind - "the internet can bombard you with dots but it can't help you to join them up."
The effects of the digital revolution on the minds staring at it are global, unprecedented, controversial and multifaceted.

http://www.susangreenfield.com/science/screen-technologies/

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/aug/10/susan-greenfield-interview-marched-beat-drum-mind-change 
This article is barely worthy of the Guardian, describing the scientist's appearance in a frankly sexist manner.

Technical revolutions, the printing press and the spread of reading, and now the digital revolution and the internet, affects how things are thought of, and the mind of humanity itself. We can't really see outside of our time to assess the effects, but we hope that as we progress we do not lose too much of what we came from as we gain new aspects. An online MA also contributes to the development of the virtual and to the future human mind.

27th August 2014