[P2P-F] Fwd: evolution of cognition : metaphor, metalingual definition, algorithm, and control

[Anna Harris]

As usual really interesting article. Some comments:
*
'Social order in preliterate societies may involve nothing more than family
relationships, or at most the society extends kinship by positing ancient
common ancestors. With little or no apparatus of government, civil order is
maintained by feud or fear of feud.'*

The above paragraph which begins with a possibility, ends with a statement
of fact, the sort of loose academic licence which is a sure sign that these
guys are trying to prove a point – which seems to be that what we want is
to learn to *control*.* 'Control structure, the element which is new to
Rank 4 thought' * The absence of evidence of mechanisms to maintain order
in preliterate societies may indicate that these mechanisms were not
required. This treatise with its assumption that this absence would
inevitably give rise to conflict and fear, (published 1990) predates much
research (Lynn McTaggart – The Bond, The Empathic Civilisation – Jeremy
Rifkin) which shows the opposite to be true, and probably relates more to
the cultural background against which this is written. In the 1980s US
prison population was rapidly rising so that in 2008 approximately one in
every 31 adults (7.3 million) in the United States was behind bars, or
being monitored (probation and parole). The assumption that without these
mechanisms there must be conflict and chaos, ignores the possibility that a
society needs regulation only if it is not being run in the interests of
its members.

While the article includes many interesting ideas about the evolution
resulting from spoken language, through the development of the alphabet and
numerology, the emphasis on control and manipulation (*What is critical
about language is that it enabled people wilfully to manipulate their
mental processes, to gain control of consciousness) *leads to unduly
emphasising the role of programming software rather than using computers to
communicate. The advantage of having the ability to produce your own tools
cannot be denied. But that is akin to saying people should learn how to
produce electricity rather than just using the energy to create light. And
personally I am much more interested in the content.

There is recognition that '*the proliferation of new "interdisciplinary"
ventures'* is indicative of rank 4 ideas when they '*lay out two
disciplines side by side only to transcend them.' *Following this I would
suggest that new ways of thinking are more to do with connecting wholes,
dispensing with the boundaries which separate disciplines; systems
thinking; integral theory; and appreciating processes which link rather
than just seeing discrete units. A caring society admits subjective
criteria as contributing to morality, and does not rigidly separate subject
and object in order to qualify as 'scientific'.
The new consciousness enjoys evolving through compexity not as an end in
itself, but because it brings the experience of increased freedom.

Anna

On Sun, Jan 6, 2013 at 5:53 AM, Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>wrote:

> Dear friends,
>
> after a year's absense, I 'm rejoining, and I'm sure traffic will go up <g>
>
> it would be great to have a briefing on how the list evolved while I was
> not participating?
>
> Michel
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson at gmail.com>
> Date: Sat, Jan 5, 2013 at 4:55 PM
> Subject: evolution of cognition : metaphor, metalingual definition,
> algorithm, and control
> To: econowmix at googlegroups.com, global-survival at googlegroups.com
>
>
> http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/CogEvol.shtml  ( found via metacogs on fb ) The
> Evolution of Cognition
>
>
>
> *William L. Benzon and David G. Hays*
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *Abstract:* With cultural evolution new processes of thought appear.
> Abstraction is universal, but rationalization first appeared in ancient
> Greece, theorization in Renaissance Italy, and model building in
> twentieth-century Europe. These processes employ the methods of metaphor,
> metalingual definition, algorithm, and control, respectively. The
> intellectual and practical achievements of populations guided by the
> several processes and exploiting the different mechanisms differ so greatly
> as to warrant separation into cultural ranks. The fourth rank is not
> completely formed, while regions of the world and parts of every population
> continue to operate by the processes of earlier ranks.
>
>
> *
> 1 Evolution in Biology and Culture<http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/CogEvol.shtml#Biology%20and%20Culture>
> *
> *2 Ontology <http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/CogEvol.shtml#Ontology>,
> Abstraction, and Behavioral Mode*
> *2.1 Ontology*
> *2.2 Abstraction and Metaphor*
> *2.3 Abstraction and Rationalization*
> *2.4 Neural Implementation*
> *3 Cognitive Rank<http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/CogEvol.shtml#Cognitive%20Rank>
> *
> *3.1 Rank 1: What's In a Name?*
> *3.2 Rank 2: The Letter of the Law*
> *3.3 Rank 3: Subject and Object*
> *3.4 Rank 4: Modern, Post-Modern, and All that Jazz*
> *3.5 Cognitive Rank and Cultural Diversity*
> *4 In Medias Res : The Current Flux<http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/CogEvol.shtml#Current%20Flux>
> *
> *4.1 The Thinking Machine or Electronic Brain*
> *4.2 The Software Problem*
> *4.3 The child is father to the man*
> *References <http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/CogEvol.shtml#References>*
>
>
>
>
> --
> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>
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>
> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
>
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