Neurofundamentalism

The belief that neuroscience provides the ultimate, unquestionable foundation for all other disciplines that study human beings (psychology, sociology, economics, law, education). The neurofundamentalist believes that in the future, all human sciences will be “reduced” to neurobiology, and that today we should already reform public policies, educational practices, and legal systems based on still‑provisional brain findings. It is a form of fundamentalism because it treats neuroscience as a fixed base, immune to external criticism. It overlooks the fact that neuroscience itself depends on psychological and social concepts.

Neurofundamentalism Example: “A neurofundamentalist proposed that schools use neurofeedback to ‘optimise attention’. The pedagogue replied: ‘What about teacher‑student relationships? Content? Context? You’re grounding everything in the brain – that’s reductionist fundamentalism.’”

Neurofundamentalism by Abzu Land May 27, 2026