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What is Cognitive Science? – Exploring Cognitive Science šŸ§ 

What exactly is Cognitive Science?
Today on ā€œExploring Cognitive Scienceā€, I am going to try to conquer this topic.

Defining Cognitive Science goes beyond a single sentence. The wide range of disciplines which are summarised under the term ā€œCognitive Scienceā€ is too broad for that. It’s an interdisciplinary science mostly consisting of six different fields.

Linguistics is the study of languages. You might already imagine the connection between language and the brain. Even more than analyzing speech patterns and sound connections, linguistics also dives into how speech and language is received and how it is understood.
Anthropology is the study of human societies, cultures and their development. People from different societal backgrounds perceive the world differently, depending on their past experiences in their own cultures.
To fundamentally understand the biological workings behind mental processes, cognitive science utilises neuroscience. The essential object of interest is the neuron, better known as the nerve cell. Our brain has more than 100 billion neurons to its name, making it the most competent supercomputer known to man.
This supercomputer is what researchers are trying to replicate with artificial intelligence. This computer science aspect of cognitive science is extremely present within pop culture, and it enjoys a large international following of enthusiasts. A big part of cognitive science is researching how the human mind works and applying that knowledge to computers.
Cognitive psychology takes one step back from the neuroscientific findings to research the grander scheme of things such as memory, attention, and learning. Cognitive psychologists often research on patients with diseases that damage the patientā€™s ability to learn, perceive, memorise, or concentrate.
Philosophy of cognitive science heavily overlaps with philosophy of mind. It puts all previous disciplines in a grander philosophical context, posing existential questions about the mind, thoughts, and cognition in general.

How do our thoughts work? What exactly is the human mind? When does the electrical signal transmitted by a neuron become a thought or a memory? What part of the human brain can we replicate in a computer?
These questions are at the center of cognitive science. Describing cognitive science as the study of the human mind doesn’t reach deep enough. We look at cognition in general.
Thatā€™s why cognitive science is a truly fitting name.

Table of contents:
0:00 What is Cognitive Science?
0:37 Definitions
1:45 Disciplines
2:30 1 Linguistics
2:53 2 Anthropology
3:21 3 Neuroscience
3:51 4 Artificial Intelligence
4:59 5 Psychology
5:40 6 Philosophy
6:08 Summary
6:54 Outro

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