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Cognitive Scientist
Barrett co-developed with Pascal Boyer the cognitive science framework of minimally counterintuitive concepts, which the research summary applies to explain the universal cross-cultural generation and transmission of giant traditions.
Quick Facts
Nationality
American
Current Role
Cognitive Scientist
Appears In
Giants Among Us: Myth, Bone, and the Archaeology of a Global Obsession
82%His work alongside Boyer on the cognitive science of religion literature establishes why minimally counterintuitive concepts like giants are cross-culturally optimal for transmission and memory.
Nature's Exit Protocol: Darwin's Wasp, Predation Neurochemistry & the Mercy Problem
79%Barrett's research is cited alongside Boyer and Bloom to explain the universality of body-soul dualism as a cognitive default generated by the human brain prior to cultural instruction.