About

Core Idea: Cognition has multiple determinants – evolutionary, cultural, and social – which interact in complex ways. A successful cognitive science must acknowledge them all and their complex interactions. This requires a marriage of biological, psychological and social science/humanities perspectives.

Core Challenge: Most of the world’s crucial problems require changes in behavior and societal reconfiguration. Unfortunately, our minds are adapted to past environments, and shaped by past culture and outdated social norms, that are no longer sustainable and appropriate to the current world.

How can we change our (mal)adapted minds into sustainable minds?

Scientific Approach: We will forge a new interdisciplinary consensus built around models of cognition that acknowledge and quantify evolutionary, social and cultural forces and their interactions. This involves understanding evolved biological constraints, but without reduction of cognition to biology.

We will use a comparative approach, across a broad range of nonhuman species, to will analyze how different configurations of the three determinants affect the architecture of minds.

Broader Relevance: We aim to provide knowledge helping us to change minds in healthy, sustainable ways, through education, social media, public advocacy and social outreach.