From: Marc Geddes (marc_geddes@yahoo.co.nz)
Date: Wed May 25 2005 - 22:49:49 MDT
I had proposed that there are 7 different 'modes' of
knowing, or 7 different 'lens' through which to view
reality. There is only one reality of course, but
there appear to be 7 different 'mapping methods'
through which a rational mind can describe that
reality. I shall call these 7 different mapping
methods 'Cognitive modes' and have labelled each of
them with a word beginning with 'M' to make them easy
to remember.
Physical description (Cognitive mode: 'Matter'):
We can describe the world in terms of material
properties.
Example: 'The dogs are hairy'
Mathematical description (Cognitive mode: 'Maths'):
We can describe the world in terms of relational
(mathematical) properties.
Example: 'There are two dogs'
Experiential description (Cognitive mode: 'Mentality')
We can describe the world in terms of its effect on us
- how it feels and is perceived by a sentient
Example: 'That dog is cute!'
Ethical description (Cognitive mode: 'Meaning')
We can describe the world in terms of our relationship
to it - what role we play, especially our
relationships with other sentients.
Example: 'I am the owner of the dog. I look after
it'
Computational description (Cognitive mode: 'Model'):
We can describe the world in terms of its
informational, functional properties (the language of
complex systems)
Example: 'The dog barks, eats, wags it's tail etc'
Moral description (Cognitive mode: 'Morality')
We can describe the world in terms of its possible
*use* to sentients. How something could be used, how
we shall live.
Example: 'Dogs make good pets and help the
ecosystem!'
Volitional description (Cognitive mode: 'Mind')
The highest level of description. We can describe the
world in terms of generic events or 'mental episodes'
and extrapolate them back and forward in time
(imagination and memory).
Example: 'I think back to all the dogs I knew and
imagine new situations where I predict what dogs will
do'
Is there a mapping between the 7 different kinds of
cognitive description? My proposed mappings follow:
'Model map' =
Superposition ( 'Matter map', 'Maths map')
The 'model' mode of describing something is obtained
by superimposing two other descriptions: A physical
description and a mathematical description.
'Morality map' =
Superposition ( 'Mentality map', 'Meaning map')
The 'morality' mode of describing something is
obtained by superimposing two other descriptions: An
ethical description and an experiential description.
'Mind map' =
Superposition ('Model map', 'Morality map')
The 'Mind' mode of describing something is obtained by
superimposing two other descriptions: A system
description (a model) and a moral description.
Look again at my suggested 7 universal categories of
cognition. Note the way I've ordered them:
Mentality map
Meaning map
Morality map
*Mind map*
Model map
Maths map
Matter map
The first three categories of cognition are concerned
with reasoning about mental experiences. The last
three are concerned with reasoning about physical and
logical things. Note that the 'Mind' map is the odd
one out, so has been placed in the middle and marked
with asterisks.
Go back to my proposed mappings. The first mapping I
suggested was a superposition of the Maths map and the
Matter map. This resulted in a 'Model'. Note that
'Model map' has been placed closer to the center of my
list, indicating that it's a higher level of
description and is in some sense 'closer' to what an
animate object is (Computation is a sort of 'halfway
house' between mind and matter).
The second mapping I suggested was a superposition of
the Mentality map and the Meaning map. This resulted
in a 'Morality'. Note that the 'Morality map' has
also been placed closer to the center of my list,
again, indicating that it's a higher level of
description and is in some 'closer' to what an
inanimate thing (it's more abstract than pure
experience or interactions). So again, we've reached
a way of describing the world which is a sort of
'halfway house' between mind and matter.
So what is happening through these mappings, is that
our descriptions of the animate and the inanimate are
in some sense 'coming closer together'. At one pole
is a purely objective description in terms of
inanimate things (the 'Matter map'). At the other
pole is a purely subjective description in terms of
sentient experiences (the 'Mentality map').
By superimposing the Matter map on the Maths map we
obtained a new way of describing the world (the 'Model
map' - i.e a systems or computational mode of
description). This is a sort of half-way house
between the objective and the subjective.
By superimposing the Mentality map on the Meaning map
we obtained another new way of the describing the
world (the 'Morality' map), which again is a sort of
halfway house between the objective and subjective.
Now it's time to look at the final proposed mapping:
What happens when we superimpose a Morality map on a
Model map? The proposed result was the Mind map.
This final mapping in some sense finally reconciles
the subjective and objective. So one would say that
Mind is the *bridge* between the objective and the
subjective. Hence it's special place in the center of
the list.
--- THE BRAIN is wider than the sky, For, put them side by side, The one the other will include With ease, and you beside. -Emily Dickinson 'The brain is wider than the sky' http://www.bartleby.com/113/1126.html --- Please visit my web-site: Mathematics, Mind and Matter http://www.riemannai.org/ --- Find local movie times and trailers on Yahoo! Movies. http://au.movies.yahoo.com
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