Bewilderment is the antidote to scientific reductionism

Re:Bewilderment is the antidote to scientific reductionism by superkuh on Friday November 16, 2018 @10:41AM (#18469411)

Seeing the title I thought this article was going to be about the "problem" of reductionism. But it delightfully doesn't fall into that trap and acknowledges that reductionism to the lowest useful components does not necessarily imply low complexity. Then goes on to express wonderment at the remaining complexity after reductionism. That's fine, I guess. Just as long as we all remember there's no such thing as a chemical that makes you fall in love.

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Re:Bewilderment is the antidote to scientific reductionism by naasking on Friday November 16, 2018 @11:21AM (#18469678)

> That's fine, I guess. Just as long as we all remember there's no such thing as a chemical that makes you fall in love.

Indeed, there are many such chemicals, and they don't make you fall in love, the complex soup combined with our neurology is what we call love.

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Re:Bewilderment is the antidote to scientific reductionism by throwrhebrick on Friday November 16, 2018 @11:12AM (#18469616)

> there's no such thing as a chemical that makes you fall in love.

I read this article a while ago that suggests love is produced by the releasing of various chemicals: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-chemistry-of-love-609354.

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Re:Bewilderment is the antidote to scientific reductionism by superkuh on Saturday November 17, 2018 @11:12PM (#18478840)

I guess people misinterpreted my last sentence as avocating for or implying that there's some non-observable or sublime facet of love. I really don't mean that. I only mean that release of neurotransmitters at a synapse is not even a tiny part of the story. And the idea that there are 'chemicals' or neurotransmitters that make you fall in love is absurd. It matters where the chemicals are. It matters when. And that's ignoring the activity of astrocytes completely.

I am a reductionist. But there's no such thing as a chemical in love. Such descriptions are necessary but not nearly sufficient.

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Re:Bewilderment is the antidote to scientific reductionism by _Schizotypy on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:19PM (#18471208)

This feels like a complete "no shit"

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