SBC: I'm just amazed at how quickly my fellow armchair scientists feel qualified to shoot down PhDs who have lengthy experience in their fields.
James Woods: That is my critical thinking at work.
Perhaps but I wanted to be sure you weren't confusing skepticism out of ignorance - which I've been guilty of - with critical thinking. Anyone can shout bullshit! from the bleachers and call it critical thinking.
James Woods: Sorry, but nobody (and I do mean NOBODY - PhD or not) can tell what somebody is thinking from an MRI or other brain scan.
Nobody claimed to know what the subjects were thinking, nor did they claim the implications of this study were cold hard facts. They were studying which PARTS of the brain were active and inactive when subjects processed specific statements. To quote the Abstract from this study:
"Motivated reasoning was associated with activations of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, insular cortex, and lateral orbital cortex. As predicted, motivated reasoning was not associated with neural activity in regions previously linked to cold reasoning tasks and conscious (explicit) emotion regulation. The findings provide the first neuroimaging evidence for phenomena variously described as motivated reasoning, implicit emotion regulation, and psychological defense. They suggest that motivated reasoning is qualitatively distinct from reasoning when people do not have a strong emotional stake in the conclusions reached."
James Woods: We simply do not have that level of technology - it is akin to claiming that a gypsy lady can read your mind or tell your future.
Right, that's a great comparison because we all know that gypsy ladies have made amazing strides in neuroscience recently, haven't they?