Monday, October 1, 2007

Chapter 3 & 4 - Davide

Chapter three goes more into depth about the origins of cognitive science and how its definition evolved. In the beginning, there was the cybernetics movement, which was dedicated to bringing a science of the mind; this can be seen as a huge step forward for the definition of cognitive science. The ideas of people like McCulloch and Pitts helped bring about the invention of digital computers. Unfortunately, soon afterwards everyone involved with this movement eventually died off, thus forcing cybernetics to go with them. However, where cybernetics burnt away, neurology and psychoanalysis rose from the ashes of the old to form a new cognitive science. It was through people like Freud and Jackenoff that ideas such as a separate mind and consciousness or the disunity of the cognizing subject. Thus, cognitive science was reborn anew, and it is this past form of it which is now being considered a natural counterpart to present-day cognitive science.

Chapter four focuses on defining what it means to be human with the premise that most people are not convinced of their own identities as humans that are always in the moment. This chapter talks about mindfulness/awareness as a form of practice that eventually will lead people to be able to be present in every aspect of their life. This discussion eventually leads straight into the five aggregates of Buddhism: forms, feelings/sensations, perceptions (discernments)/impulses, dispositional formations, and consciousness. These five aggregates are what not only constitute the psychological complex of a person, but what constitute every moment a person experiences.

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