Neurocentrist Fanaticism
An extreme, uncritical commitment to the brain as the unique source of mind, coupled with hostility toward any perspective that attributes cognitive or affective processes to the body, environment, social relations, or artifacts. The neurocentrist fanatic reacts with outrage to suggestions that memory might be partly stored in external media or that emotions are shaped by cultural practices. They view such ideas as threats to the “truth” of brain‑based explanation and often engage in aggressive online campaigns against embodied or extended mind theorists.
Example: “He called embodied cognition ‘pseudoscience’ and its proponents ‘deluded.’ Neurocentrist fanaticism: treating a legitimate research program as heresy because it challenges brain‑centered dogma.”
Neurocentrist Fundamentalism
A rigid, literalist interpretation of the principle that “the brain produces the mind,” taken to imply that the brain is the only relevant level of analysis. Neurocentrist fundamentalism rejects any form of downward causation (mind influencing brain) and treats consciousness as an epiphenomenon. It often denies the reality of psychological constructs like intention or belief because they are not “located” in specific brain regions. This fundamentalism is a form of eliminative materialism, insisting that folk psychology will eventually be replaced by neural vocabulary.
Example: “He claimed that beliefs didn’t really exist—only patterns of neural firing. Neurocentrist fundamentalism: eliminating the very concepts that make human life intelligible, all to preserve a dogmatic reductionism.”
Neurocentrist Fundamentalism
A rigid, literalist interpretation of the principle that “the brain produces the mind,” taken to imply that the brain is the only relevant level of analysis. Neurocentrist fundamentalism rejects any form of downward causation (mind influencing brain) and treats consciousness as an epiphenomenon. It often denies the reality of psychological constructs like intention or belief because they are not “located” in specific brain regions. This fundamentalism is a form of eliminative materialism, insisting that folk psychology will eventually be replaced by neural vocabulary.
Example: “He claimed that beliefs didn’t really exist—only patterns of neural firing. Neurocentrist fundamentalism: eliminating the very concepts that make human life intelligible, all to preserve a dogmatic reductionism.”
Neurocentrist Fanaticism by Dumu The Void April 18, 2026
