No brainer: ‘A new culture war is emerging. This one pits “minders” against “brainers,” and cuts across the usual political lines. Brainers build their cultural castles on the rock of cutting-edge science: genetics, brain biology, and evolutionary psychology. Minders craft a worldview the old-fashioned way, by drawing on religion, philosophy, and classic social science.’ The author, Stankey Kuntz, a fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank, describes himself as a “confirmed minder” and is essentially cheerleading for the various salvos fired against the brainers’ “medicalization of unhappiness.” Perhaps worthwhile, but unfortunately he doesn’t know enough about neuroscience to criticize it, and some of his assertions — e.g., that there is no well-established understanding of the pathophysiologiy of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — are just plain untrue. It is also remarkable to hear him proclaim that the brain/mind battleground is a new one. Indeed, it’s one of the longest-running shows in the psychological sciences. I won’t go too far into his efforts to disparage and patronize the positions of his opponents as “religion”, since he also seems to know little of the philosophy of science and epistemology. His crowning blow is to imply that this is a battle about “the degree of humanity we shall be able to retain.” You can guess which side he thinks holds all the humanity. National Review