Question by lomashibal: Can you say psychology studys the software, and neuroscience studys hardware?
If our mind can be considered a computer, with our brain being the hardware and mind the software. Can’t you say that psychology is the study of the software and neuroscience the study of the hardware?
Best answer:
Answer by Mash
Yes but it’s not that simple.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
What you are asking is a matter of semantics. My ‘opinion’ is as follows. Neuroscience incorporates hardware and software indiscriminately. Psychology is the interpretation of what the byproduct of the thought process is; and so I think that psychology is in fact ‘software’. Besides, psychology is not a true science. It is a system of beliefs and philosophies and ‘syndromes’ that includes proven empirical data to back up any given problem that falls within the realm of the workings of the mind. The truthfullness and sentience of a person being ‘analylised’ will affect the outcome of any conclusions to be made by the body doing the study. Thus each individual is eventually diagnosed with an ‘opinion’, not a proven fact. A large concensus among colleagues will generally validate that experts opinion as ‘fact’, which is really not the case. To summarise: the human mind is not a scientifically quantifiable item to be calibrated like a machine. It is a dynamic mysterious realm that is yet to be fully understood.