Re: Mirror neurons at autopsy (Was: [TCS] What is empathy)

>>>> All the versions of the mirror neuron idea are mistaken, not just one particular one.
>>> 
>>> Is this idea a "version of the mirror neuron idea"?: The brains of some animals contain neurons which fire both when the animal observes certain behaviours and when it enacts those behaviours.
>>> 
>>> And if not, is this?: Such neurons are part of a system for computing the translation function described above.
>> 
>> Do you think mirror neurons are a good explanation and if so why?
> 
> If you mean mirror neurons defined as having the above two attributes, then yes. There must be a system of neurons performing such translations in any non-human animals that are capable of imitation, or having memes, or certain other abilities. That it because (1) imitating another animal's behaviour with one's own behaviour requires sophisticated knowledge over and above that required to interpret sense data or control limbs; and (2) in non-humans, this knowledge cannot come from creativity and hence (3) it must be encoded in their genes. Moreover it is knowledge that must (4) be embodied in some information-processing system in the brain that translates from sensory to motor signals. Information processing with that degree of sophistication can only (5) be performed by neurons (and not
 , e.g. chemicals). 
> 
> 
> -- David Deutsch
> 
Babies can imitate once they're a few months old.  So can the young, very profoundly affected autistic children I work with.  In what sense do these individuals have "sophisticated knowledge over and above that required to interpret sense data or control limbs"?


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