Abstract
Important aspects of human cognition are considered in terms of patterning, which we claim represents a shift from focusing on what is present to what is absent. We make use of Deacon’s notion of absentials and apply it to the patterning that underscores human cognition. Several important aspects of human cognition are considered that represent a shift from focusing on what is present to what is absent, namely, language as representing the transition from percept to concept-based thinking, mathematical grouping and patterning of items into sets that gave rise to verbal language, as well as imaginative thinking which is so critical for the development of the arts, mathematics and science. The connection between information and absence is also examined, in which we claim that information is an absential, paralleling an idea of Deacon’s.
Highlights
Important aspects of human cognition are considered in terms of patterning, a key factor in the development of human cognition and culture, which represents a shift from focusing on what is present to what is absent
Several important aspects of human cognition are considered that represent a shift from focusing on what is present to what is absent, namely, language as representing the transition from percept to concept-based thinking, as described in The Extended Mind, mathematical grouping and patterning of items into sets that gave rise to verbal language, as well as imaginative thinking which is so critical for the development of the arts, mathematics and science
In that study [1] we proposed that the ability of humans to identify and create patterns led to the unique aspects of human cognition and culture as a complex emergent dynamic system consisting of the following human traits that co-emerged: patterning, social organization, rudimentary set theory or categorization, spoken language, and the ability to deal with information overload
Summary
Important aspects of human cognition are considered in terms of patterning, a key factor in the development of human cognition and culture, which represents a shift from focusing on what is present to what is absent. In that study [1] we proposed that the ability of humans to identify and create patterns led to the unique aspects of human cognition and culture as a complex emergent dynamic system consisting of the following human traits that co-emerged: patterning, social organization, rudimentary set theory or categorization, spoken language, and the ability to deal with information overload. We argued that these traits are interrelated, as they all involve the ability to flexibly manipulate information from our environments via pattern restructuring. One example of the way patterning contributed to human cognition is the role it played in the emergence of language, which involved the ability of humans to create patterns by distinguishing a set of objects or activities that are similar, differentiating them from other objects or activities, and giving a name to that set, namely, a word
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