How Cog-Sci Changed My Perspective

My reasons for loving the Cognitive Science program may be different from others, I don't really know, as I have never asked other classmates. However for me, the program changed many of my core beliefs for the better. I went into the Cognitive Science program with one framework of how I absolutely knew the world worked, and am now coming out of the program thinking, wow there is so much more to learn.

I will talk about one of my favorite courses within the major, one that challenged both my work ethic and my core beliefs: Philosophy of Mind. This course challenged my work ethic because of the mental work it required that I wasn't quite used to yet. While the beginning of the course focuses on the fundamentals of philosophy, the professor eventually requires you to provide arguments against popular arguments within the Philosophy of Mind field. For these arguments, we needed to come up with our own unique argument consisting of a list of premises leading to a conclusion, and to be careful not to make an argument that is easily refutable (straw man). I also made it even harder for myself by choosing to refute an argument I already agreed to, so coming up with something abstract from my own imagination that I morally disagreed with seemed impossible. I can tell you its very possible, just hard! The critical thinking involved with creating such an argument was a tough but needed experience.

The other way this course challenged me was in my core beliefs. It would be pretty accurate to say that the change in my beliefs has been gradual over the course of my college education, however Philosophy of Mind was the course that helped point me towards new beliefs, and showed me options. Without even realizing, this class gave me a framework I desperately needed in my life by showing me, "If you want to believe [insert this belief], you have to accept __ and __. and if you want to accept [insert different belief], you need to accept __ and __,". I ended up having a mental battle with myself: Property Dualism or some form of Physicalism. I eventually came to a decision, and I was finally able to understand how to have a formal/structured debate, and still choose what I wanted to believe. Allowing my beliefs to be challenged is something this class helped structure for me, and I will use the knowledge from this course for the rest of my life.