Let us begin by giving all proper respect to what neuroscience can tell us about ourselves: it reveals some of the most important conditions that are necessary for behavior and awareness. What neuroscience does not do, however, is provide a satisfactory account of the conditions that are sufficient for behavior and awareness.. The pervasive yet mistaken idea that neuroscience does fully account for awareness and behavior is neuroscientism, an exercise in science-based faith.. This confusion between necessary and sufficient conditions lies behind the encroachment of “neuroscientistic” discourse on academic work in the humanities.. . Raymond Tallis
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Michael Gazzaniga, a cognitive scientist at the University of California at San Francisco and director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind, is critical of what he calls "neuroscientism," a belief that neuroscience can explain everything about human experience and behavior and that scientific study of the brain is the only valid way to understand human experience and behavior. Neuroscientists, according to Gazzaniga, tend to take their findings as self-evident, while ignoring the vast amounts of data from other disciplines. "Neuroscientism" is a word that refers to beliefs or theories that are expressed by scientists or others who believe neuroscience can explain everything. The term "neuroscientist" refers to scientists who study neuroscience.

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  1. Let us begin by giving all proper respect to what neuroscience can tell us about ourselves: it reveals some of the most important conditions that are necessary for behavior and awareness. What neuroscience does not do, however, is provide a satisfactory account of the conditions...
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