2014/10/15 by Carolyn Dicey Jennings, Bence Nanay, Bence Nánay · 41 citations
Arts and Humanities · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Action (physics) #Cognitive science #Computer science #Embodied and Extended Cognition #Epistemology #Mental Health and Psychiatry #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies #Philosophy #Psychology #Sociology #Typology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/analys/anu096
published in Analysis 76(1), 29-36 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2014/10/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Wayne Wu argues that attention is necessary for action: since action requires a solution to the ‘Many–Many Problem’, and since only attention can solve the Many–Many Problem, attention is necessary for action. We question the first of these two steps and argue that it is based on an oversimplified distinction between actions and reflexes. We argue for a more complex typology of behaviours where one important category is action that does not require a solution to the Many–Many Problem, and so does not require attention.