The Nature of Explanation

Kenneth Craik was one of the first to realise that machines share with the brain certain principles of functioning, Craik was a pioneer in the development of physiological psychology and cybernetics. Craik published only one complete work of any length, this essay on The Nature of Explanation. Here he considers thought as a term for the conscious working of a highly complex machine, viewing the brain as a calculating machine which can model or parallel external events, a process that is the basic feature of thought and explanation. He applies this view to a number of psychological and philosophical problems (such as paradox and illusion) and suggests possible experiments to test his theory.