Personage
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What is your body for
“In viewing cognition as embedded or situated, embodied cognitive science emphasizes feedback between an agent and the world. We have seen that this feedback is structured by the nature of an agent’s body...This in turn suggests that agents with different kinds of bodies can be differentiated in terms of degrees of embodiment... Embodiment can be defined as the extent to which an agent can alter its environment.” Michael Dawson: Degrees of embodiment; The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition, page 62
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We usually gesture when we talk to each other, and gesturing facilitates not only communication but also language processing itself (McNeill 1992).
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We are often able to perform cognitive tasks, such as remembering, more effectively by using our bodies and even parts of our environment to simplify cognitive processing (Donald 1991).
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Children from Romanian orphanages, who were barely touched in the first years of life, showed cognitive and behavioural disorders and significant differences in brain development later in life. Adults with reduced social contact have a higher risk of dying earlier than those with strong social relationships. As humans, we are one of the few mammals that are born too early in the developmental trajectory. Our motor system is not fully developed, we cannot feed ourselves, we cannot regulate our own temperature. This means that we depend on others for survival. Caregiving as a child depends mainly on tactile contact and ‘being held’. (Laura Crucianelli 2020)
In his book ‘On Being Certain’, neurologist Robert Burton asks us the question, “How do we know that we know?” He answers that question with “The feeling of knowing”. And further. “The feeling of knowing is essential for confirming our thoughts and motivating thoughts that have not yet been proven”. “The core claim of this book is that the feeling of knowing is not a considered conclusion. It is a mental sensation that happens to us”.
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Folk psychology
According to the Dunning-Kruger effect, people tend to overestimate their abilities and underestimate the performance of others. As a result, people start thinking they are making unbiased, clear and correct decisions.
This is where the idea of the "little man in our head" that controls everything comes in. The "little man in our head" is a popular metaphor in folk psychology. It refers to the idea that there is a kind of little person in our head who controls our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Although this metaphor may seem helpful at first glance to understand certain aspects of our psyche, it is essential to realise that it does not correspond to current scientific insights into the functioning of our brain. Modern neuroscience and psychology have shown that the human brain is much more complex than a simple machine with a single control centre. But where does this metaphor come from?
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The cultural background
Man has always found himself an outsider in a world where he is biologically inferior to the animals at the top of the food chain (the large carnivores), but through his cultural achievements, he is able to hold his own and take the upper hand. This gives rise to myths and legends in all population groups that confirm man's place at the top.
In Mesopotamian mythology, an ancient religion practised in the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates, there is a story about the god Marduk, who fights the dragon Tiamat and ultimately wins. After his victory, Marduk creates heaven and earth and becomes the ruler of the gods.
In Hindu mythology, there is a story about the god Vishnu, who becomes the incarnation of the prince Rama and defeats the demon king Ravana to become the ruler of Ayodhya.
In Norse mythology, Odin is the supreme god of wisdom, war and death. He ruled Asgard, the home of the gods, and was often on a quest for wisdom and knowledge. He had two ravens named Huginn and Muninn who flew ahead of him to gather information and return to him to report back. One of the most famous stories about Odin is his quest for wisdom. He was willing to do anything to gain knowledge and sacrificed himself by hanging from the world tree Yggdrasil for nine days without food or water. This eventually gave him the knowledge of runes, a type of writing.
In Greek mythology, the gods and the Titans, a race of powerful divine beings, fight for dominion over the universe. The gods win the battle and take control.
In 2023, an animated film will be released in which Mavka is a young girl, 'the soul of the forest'. She watches over plants and animals and ensures that everything runs smoothly and that 'the evil people' are kept out of the forest. In all these stories, there is often a struggle for supremacy, and ultimately, man or 'the human deity' triumphs over other powers to take control.
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The Renaissance as an economic and cultural breeding ground
Economically, Western Europe in the pre-Enlightenment period was primarily agricultural and craft-oriented. Trade was important, but most people still worked in the countryside. However, cities grew rapidly, and a rising class of traders and merchants emerged, laying the foundation for the later capitalist system.
Before this period, trade was organized feudally and was firmly based on barter. An economy based on money emerged. The necessities of life could now be bought with money, which encouraged the dedication and creativity of the individual. The individual suddenly had new opportunities.
It was a time of significant intellectual and cultural change, in which old ideas and traditional authorities were challenged, and new knowledge and insights were acquired. This formed the basis for the later development of modern Western society and culture.
In cultural terms, the Renaissance was an important development in Western Europe. Art, science and philosophy flourished again after the Middle Ages. Humanists such as Erasmus, Montaigne and Thomas More advocated the study of classical literature and philosophy. Scientists such as Galileo, Kepler, and Newton laid the foundation for modern science.
In Descartes' time, Western Europe was a region of significant economic and cultural change. It was a period of new ideas and inventions that laid the foundation for the modern world.
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René Descartes and the Origins of the Enlightenment
René Descartes (1596 - 1650) is the pivotal point between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. His thinking has had a profound influence on Western philosophy and culture. He argued that true knowledge can only be obtained through rational deliberation and that the mind and the body are fundamentally different entities. This position remains leading to this day.
Descartes started by developing a ‘method’ that would certainly lead to certainty:
- Cogito ergo sum: This is Descartes’ famous statement: “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes claimed that the only thing he knew for sure was that he existed because he thought
- The method of doubt: Descartes argued that it was necessary to question everything we think we know, until we are left with only the knowledge that is absolutely certain
This naturally led to a worldview consisting of:
- Rationalism: Descartes advocated the use of reason as the only reliable method for acquiring knowledge. He believed that true knowledge could only be obtained through deduction and logical reasoning, and not through sense perception or authority
- Dualism: Descartes divided the world into two substances: the material world of the body and the non-material world of the mind or soul. He argued that these two substances were fundamentally different and could not be explained by the same principles
- Mechanism: Descartes believed that the world and everything that happens in it can be understood as a machine. This means that all phenomena in the world can be explained by mechanical principles and laws
From this worldview, he compared the human body to a clock: a perfectly functioning mechanism in which all parts are beautifully attuned to each other, with God as a clockmaker. In addition, he considered the brain a kind of mirror in which the mind, as a kind of reflection, could observe and understand itself.
This idea is still present in Western thinking. The separation of body and mind, this dualism, still feeds the idea that the mind is more important than the body and influences our thinking about health, illness, and well-being.
In addition, it has initiated metaphorical thinking about our brain that draws inspiration from the evolving natural sciences, although this metaphorical thinking already started in Greek philosophy.
In his book Timaeus, the Greek philosopher Plato describes the brain as a water clock in which the soul flows as a kind of moving force. In the Middle Ages, Arab scholars further developed this metaphor, which was later, as described above, adopted by Descartes.
The brain as a telegraph. In the 19th century, scientists such as Hermann von Helmholtz and Johannes Müller used this metaphor. They regarded the brain as a kind of telegraph in which electrical signals transfer sensory information from the senses to the brain.
The brain as a computer. This metaphor became popular in the 1950s and 1960s when the computer emerged. Scientists such as John von Neumann and Alan Turing compared the brain to a computer and regarded human thinking as information processing.
In addition to this metaphorical worldview, Descartes's influence on the development of the Enlightenment cannot be underestimated. Here, the emphasis came to lie on individual autonomy. The individual is best able to discover the truth.
Rationality became central to the search for truth. Science and technology, which are based on rational research, were then and still are very important in Western culture, with important developments in medicine, technology and industry. But this thinking has also led to a reductionist approach to knowledge, where complex phenomena are reduced to their components to understand better how they work. It has allowed us to understand parts of complex systems but has also led to neglecting essential aspects of reality. Aspects that are not easily reduced to their components.
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The Enlightenment
The Cartesian dualism of mind and body and the emphasis on reason and intellect influenced Enlightenment philosophy. Philosophers such as John Locke and Immanuel Kant emphasized the role of reason and the individual and advocated democratic reform and equal rights for all people.
The Enlightenment emphasized scientific inquiry and empirical observation as ways to gain knowledge and stressed the importance of individual freedom, equality, and tolerance. This led to important political and social changes, including the American and French Revolutions based on human rights and reduced government power in favour of individual freedom.
The Enlightenment also had a major influence on the time's literature, art, and culture. Artists and writers used the new ideas and values of the Enlightenment to break through traditional forms and develop new styles and techniques. The rationalism and empiricism of the Enlightenment formed the basis for the development of modern science and the Industrial Revolution. One possible explanation for why the dualistic view is so prevalent in Western culture is that it is intuitively appealing because it corresponds to our world experience as a separation between body and mind, mind and matter, and so on. This separation is evident because we divide our experiences into different categories and treat them as separate entities.
Dualism suggests that the physical world and the human mind are fundamentally different, so different methods are needed to study them. This led to the development of the modern scientific method during the Enlightenment, in which the natural sciences focus primarily on studying the physical world and the spiritual sciences focus on studying the human mind.
Furthermore, the dualistic view has its roots in Judeo-Christian theology, which centres on the concept of an immortal soul. According to this view, humans consist of a physical body and an eternal soul from God. This idea is based on the biblical belief that God created man in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). This has helped the dualistic view to play an essential role in Western culture.
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Adam Smith
Adam Smith (1723 - 1790). He was the poster child for the Scottish Enlightenment, which provided a scientific basis for the Anglo-Saxon economic rise.
His doctrine, his followers claim, is that unfettered markets lead to economic growth, making everyone better off. In Smith's now iconic phrase, the 'invisible hand' of the market, not the heavy hand of government, gives us freedom, security and prosperity.
The book in which Adam Smith developed 'The invisible hand', 'The Wealth of Nations' (1776), became the seminal book of economic liberalism. Politicians and thinkers throughout the ages with an aversion to government interference, such as anti-communist and neoliberal Milton Friedman, still explicitly invoke 'the invisible hand'. In the popular imagination, the analogy between Smith's 'invisible hand' and what is still invisible (the divine) was and is not far off, which fits in perfectly with the dualistic thinking of Descartes.
Adam Smith fell victim to a strange reversal from Enlightenment thinking. The quote reads: "The very vice of the landowner, his desire to become rich, ultimately leads to everyone being equally happy. That is the so-called invisible hand." Adam Smith meant it negatively for those in power, but dualism ensured that the sub phrase, "his desire to become rich, ultimately leads to everyone being equally happy", became dominant.
The idea that happiness is an individual and rationally pursued good grew out of this. Our conscience, the little man in our heads, changed functions from ethical guidelines to supreme and independent leaders.
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Homo economicus
The concept of "Homo economicus" stems from the economic theory described above and assumes that human behaviour is driven by self-interest and rational calculation. This means that people want to use their resources to achieve their personal goals, such as maximum profit, utility or happiness.
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill were English philosophers and economists known for their theory of utilitarianism: People act to maximize their happiness and always make rational choices aimed at maximizing their utility. There was 'higher' and 'lower' pleasure that enabled people to act to maximize their happiness and avoid pain.
Everything that came before is based on the assumption that 'the individual is leading for the whole'. The great reversal towards embodiment starts with the idea that 'the whole is leading for the individual'. If we want to get rid of the concept of man as 'homo economicus', we will have to start thinking differently.
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Spinoza
Spinoza (1632 - 1677) agreed with Descartes that the human mind can understand 'the laws of the world' through reason. But he was also one of the first philosophers to argue for an entirely naturalistic approach to that world.
Spinoza's principles were:
- Monism: Spinoza believed that there was only one substance in the universe, which he called "God or Nature". This substance has infinitely many attributes, of which two are known: extension (matter) and thought (spirit)
- Pantheism: Spinoza regarded God as the unity of the universe, rather than as a personal god outside the world
This led to:
- Determinism: According to Spinoza, everything in the world is determined by nature and there is no free will. Human actions, like other events in nature, are the result of causes that precede them.
- Ethics: Spinoza argued that the purpose of life is to be happy, and that true happiness can be achieved by using reason and living according to the moral principles of Nature.
- Criticism of religion: Spinoza criticized traditional religion, which he saw as superstition that distorted the truth and suppressed human reason. He advocated a religion based on Nature and reason, rather than dogma and authority.
However, his criticism of the religious tradition cost him dearly. Descartes assumed a dualistic view in which the mind (with its associated religion) is separate from the body. On the other hand, Spinoza advocated a monistic view of reality, in which everything in nature is connected and subject to the same laws.
Spinoza's philosophy is about searching for truth and pursuing a complete understanding of reality. He argued that the mind and the body do not exist separately but are two aspects of the same reality.
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Daniel Dennett on Embodiment
When we go all out for embodiment, we quickly arrive at Daniel Dennett.
His starting point is the gene, which ensures that there is a body. According to Dennett, it is advantageous for a gene to be ‘carried’ by an independent body because this increases the chance that the gene will spread to other individuals and populations. Suppose the gene is in a dependent body, such as a symbiotic relationship. In that case, it can be passed on less easily to other individuals and can, therefore, be less successful in survival and reproduction.
He also points out a striking pattern of thinking that has crept into our culture. Contrary to widespread belief, Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ has much less to do with the individual than with the species. The title of Darwin’s book is, therefore, ‘On the Origin of Species’.
Life must be protected and passed on (not the individual). However, the individual body is an excellent instrument for this.
A logical next question is, what is a brain for?
Daniel Wolpert about the brain
“We have a brain for one reason and for one reason only…and that’s to produce adaptable and complex movement. There is no other reason to have a brain.”
This is the view of Daniel Wolpert, Professor of Neurobiology at Columbia University. Have you noticed that all living things that cannot move do not have a brain? The brain controls and coordinates sensory systems, movement, behaviour, and homeostatic bodily functions such as breathing, blood pressure, and body temperature. All of these can be reduced to movement, and for this, a body is needed.
Movement leads to behaviour and experiences.
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Robert Sapolsky on Behaviour
Robert Sapolsky is an American neuroscientist and primatologist. For him, embodiment implies that the body and physical experiences influence our thinking, emotions, and behaviour. This contrasts with the view of the human mind as something separate from the body.
He emphasizes the importance of the complex relationships between biology, psychology, and social factors in shaping our behaviour and health. These factors influence our bodies and are incorporated into our daily lives.
Experience, the step towards fellow human beings.
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Merleau-Ponty and phenomenology
“Intimacy, connection and compassion are based on our perception of each other: not so much an intellectual understanding of the other as a 'conscious someone', but the sense of this embodied, sensitive and vulnerable being for me”.
From Plato to René Descartes and the scientific revolution, Western thought has treated the body as subordinate to the mind, as an object in a world of objects. As a general view of ‘how things are’, this is highly problematic since the body as we experience it is not just an object.
You will never have to ‘search’ for your right arm as you would for a pair of scissors, he said in Phenomenology of Perception (1945). ‘True philosophy’, he wrote in the introduction, ‘consists in learning to look at the world’. He pointed out that when you investigate your everyday experiences, you somehow find yourself involved in the world around you. ‘For example, when I see my neighbour leaving her flat at the same time as I do, I experience greeting her as a familiar person, as someone with significance in my ‘situated’ life’. Through experience, the body is constantly called upon to participate, choose, and focus on the world before any verbal reflection comes into play and sets the stage for our reflective thinking, saying and doing.
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How do the brain and body work together?
A well-known example of brain-body cooperation is how a baseball fielder catches a ball. When the ball takes off, the catcher’s brain does not ‘calculate’ the trajectory, but the catcher starts walking in a way that keeps the ‘viewing angle’ of the ball parallel.
How does this work?
Our brain is a prediction machine. It does not calculate the trajectory of the ball but predicts it. As long as the feedback from the body (in this case, the view of the ball while the body is walking) matches the prediction, everything is OK, and the brain gets a reward for this. If it does not, it does not get a reward, and the brain tries to adjust the prediction until a reward follows.
This is, in summary, ‘the feeling of knowing’, not really knowing, but predicting correctly. When you read the following series, 1,2,3 …, your brain automatically predicts 4. You have the feeling of knowing you have learned it that way. What if I told you it was 5, the sum of the previous two numbers?
I predict that you almost certainly made a hand, mouth or facial movement to emphasize the ‘surprise’ to yourself.
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Evaluate towards value
No, this is not a typo; it is indeed an evaluation. We constantly evaluate the difference between our predictions and the experiences we continuously have. When it is small enough, our brains get a reward, which we find valuable.
Our ‘predictions’ start with what we consider important. We constantly evaluate this through our experience. Physical emotions and underlying feelings are our body’s way of pointing out to ourselves large differences in the prediction compared to the experience.
The meta-knowledge we acquire about this value difference throughout our lives (even before birth) gives us our ‘value framework’.
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Sources
- Philosophers: Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy – multiple lemmas per person.
- Daniel Dennett: Consciousness Explained. Darwins dangerous idea.
- Daniel Wolpert: TED presentatie – 2012
- Values: Karl Frinton – Anil Seth Free Energy Principle.