Neuromarketing between academia and the advertising industry

To my knowledge, history and sociology of science concentrate their efforts much on ideas (intellectual histories) and technologies (technology studies, or STS). Coming from economics, I developed the feeling that this distinction leads to neglect the applied side of science: neither purely ethereal as ideas can be, nor completely embodied in objects, with contours and [...]

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Big hopes

A recurring aspect of the discussions in social neuroscience is the big, indeed massive, hopes generated by the field. Social neuroscientists claim they will one day help cure diseases, handicaps, improve memory, learning capacity,  etc. To see a perfect example of this rethoric, have a look at this short video by the University of Reading. [...]

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