Monthly Archives: September 2023

Constraints: Cognitive, Affective, and Conative

One of the better models of the mind, likely with fairly ancient roots, separates it into three dimensions: cognitive, affective, and conative. The cognitive covers the linguistic and symbolic modes of thought. The affective deals with emotion and feeling. The conative deals with action and activities. Simplified terms for these would be Thinking, Feeling, andContinue reading “Constraints: Cognitive, Affective, and Conative”

Constraints: Abstractions Towards Culture

“The mind has to be built out of specialized parts because it has to solve specialized problems. Only an angel could be a general problem-solver; we mortals have to make fallible guesses from fragmentary information. Each of our mental modules solves its unsolvable problem by a leap of faith about how the world works, byContinue reading “Constraints: Abstractions Towards Culture”

The Path of Least Resistance Quote

Structure determines behavior. The way anything is structured determines the behavior within that structure. The next time you are in a building, notice how the structure of the building determines your path through it. Although you may move to your destination in a variety of ways within the building, your actions are still determined byContinue reading “The Path of Least Resistance Quote”

Culture in Mind Quote

“The implications are, quite literally, mind-bending. At birth, the human brain weighs a mere 25 percent of its eventual adult weight. This is a curious state of affairs for the brainiest of the primates. A macaque, by contrast, is born with a brain that is 60 percent of its adult weight. Its neural growth hasContinue reading “Culture in Mind Quote”

Constraints: Orienting by Desire III

Orienting By Desire: Challenges  For those of you doing the exercise portion of this series, take another look at your Challenges. How does other people influence your challenges? What assumptions about yourself and the world you inherited form others? How can consciously using the influence of others be a tool towards overcoming your Challenges? Re-writeContinue reading “Constraints: Orienting by Desire III”

Constraints: Behavioral and Cultural Transmission

There is an apocryphal tale told among Primatologists that, unfortunately, has some roots in actual research. As an experiment, five monkeys are put into a cage together. In the center of the cage is a staircase leading up to a set of hanging bananas. Seeing the bananas and being monkeys, the monkeys step onto theContinue reading “Constraints: Behavioral and Cultural Transmission”

Constraints: Self and Others

A classic psychology experiment involves three volunteers entering a room to take a test at desks. The test itself is relatively insignificant, involving a long series of multiple-choice questions. In the course of taking the exam, smoke begins to fill the room through vents. What do you think happens? The test, of course, has littleContinue reading “Constraints: Self and Others”

Constrains: Orienting by Desire II

Look at your sheet from the other day outlining your Visions and Challenges. Re-read the past few days’ essays related to identity and cognitive biases. How can these ideas, and your further exploration of these topics, be used to rethink and develop your sense of your Challenges? Are specific modes of identification helping to createContinue reading “Constrains: Orienting by Desire II”