🧠 🗝️ fMRI Brain-Decoding: What Neural Signals Really Show We often treat fMRI images as if they were snapshots of the brain’s private inner theater. But as Daniel C. Dennett explains, these colorful activation maps are not literal images—they are metaphorical reconstructions. Neural data is transformed by trainable networks and statistical models into shapes and colors we can interpret, much like a DVD encodes only instructions, not actual pictures. What fMRI reveals is patterned information, not the mind’s internal representations. The “images” are user illusions—interfaces that help us visualize something fundamentally abstract. In our Zoomposium, Dennett discusses: • why brain decoding uncovers real patterns without showing what the brain itself represents • how neural coupling and frequency correlations inform our understanding of cognition • what his multiple drafts model implies for the nature of consciousness • whether AI inspired by cognitive neuroscience could illuminate human thought The result is a deep dive into the limits and possibilities of neuroimaging—and what it truly means to “read” the brain. 📽 Interview: https://youtu.be/M2qiVz95ZYk 📎 Information: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2023/12/25/naturalistic-view/