Projecting the trees but ignoring the forest: brief critique of Alfredo Pereira Jr.’s target paper
Gregory Michael Nixon
Trans/Form/Ação 2018 DOI: 10.1590/0101-3173.2018.v41esp.14.p269 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that Pereira's projective theory of consciousness, which proposes consciousness arises from a projective mechanism producing private selves and an experienced world, is weakened by drawing on too many unrelated sources and methods, so none gets full attention; this breadth may obscure the theory's central point rather than reveal it. |
Abstract
Abstract: Pereira’s “The projective theory of consciousness” is an experimental statement, drawing on many diverse sources, exploring how consciousness might be produced by a projective mechanism that results both in private selves and an experienced world. Unfortunately, pulling together so many unrelated sources and methods means none gets full attention. Furthermore, it seems to me that the uncomfortable breadth of this paper unnecessarily complicates his project; in fact it may hide what it seeks to reveal. If this conglomeration of diverse sources and methods were compared to trees, the reader may feel like the explorer who cannot see the forest for the trees. Then again, it may be the author who is so preoccupied with foreground figures that the everpresent background is ultimately obscured.