Symbols in Nature
149
mathematical equation refers to a number. In the brain, a symbol has reference
to some representation in the mind, for example the representation of a dog.
There are ideas in the mind which involve dogs, but to express them, it would
be redundant to represent a dog explicitly and in detail. For example, the idea
that some dogs bite can be represented from the idea of dog and the idea of bite
without fleshing out what a dog looks like (does it have long legs, does it have a
fluffy tail?) or what a bite feels like. The idea is easily represented symbolically
with tokens for dogs and biting.
Tokens are mental devices which allow a lean representation of simple events,
with no details. Instead of constructing a complete representation of an event
with a great deal of superfluous detail, the same event can be smoothly represented by using tokens in place of the originals. It is obvious that mental tokens
play a highly important role in the mental economy. They are indispensable
in human thought: For instance, consider the following sentence: “The prince
rode an elephant through the gates of the city”. If every detail regarding elephants, princes, gates and cities had to be present in mind, the content of the
sentence would be lost in the jumble—it would have no focus. Quite literally,
it would not have the meaning it does. In order for precise meaning to emerge,
concepts must be pared down to elementary signs.
The mental activity of constructing meanings is a sophisticated process that
the science of language has largely ignored. As illustrated above, a limited
number of objects are named, and attention must focus on them lightly—
just enough to activate a token which identifies them without calling up all
the associations they evoke. It is a disciplined, controlled exercise that must
restrain the natural flow of associations and keep the resulting image within
narrow bounds.
Mental tokens also play an important role in planning complex behavior.
Almost all animals, even the smallest and simplest, are able to pre-play action
sequences mentally before executing them, and preview their likely consequences. This is done by manipulating symbols. The power to pre-enact
responses internally confers a huge benefit to animals by making it possible to
have rational, well-planned behavior.
The purposeful activity of all animals reveals that mental tokens, or symbols,
are being used. For example, a bird observes a hole in a tree-trunk, flies in search
of a thin twig, then pokes the twig into the hole. The hole and the twig are
mentally present as tokens, and the idea of inserting the twig in the hole is no
different from your idea of using a screwdriver to loosen a part of a machine.
It is analytic understanding, represented in mind propositionally.
The presence of tokens in the brain as stand-ins or representatives of complex
objects is confirmed today by experiments on single neurons. It is known that
149
mathematical equation refers to a number. In the brain, a symbol has reference
to some representation in the mind, for example the representation of a dog.
There are ideas in the mind which involve dogs, but to express them, it would
be redundant to represent a dog explicitly and in detail. For example, the idea
that some dogs bite can be represented from the idea of dog and the idea of bite
without fleshing out what a dog looks like (does it have long legs, does it have a
fluffy tail?) or what a bite feels like. The idea is easily represented symbolically
with tokens for dogs and biting.
Tokens are mental devices which allow a lean representation of simple events,
with no details. Instead of constructing a complete representation of an event
with a great deal of superfluous detail, the same event can be smoothly represented by using tokens in place of the originals. It is obvious that mental tokens
play a highly important role in the mental economy. They are indispensable
in human thought: For instance, consider the following sentence: “The prince
rode an elephant through the gates of the city”. If every detail regarding elephants, princes, gates and cities had to be present in mind, the content of the
sentence would be lost in the jumble—it would have no focus. Quite literally,
it would not have the meaning it does. In order for precise meaning to emerge,
concepts must be pared down to elementary signs.
The mental activity of constructing meanings is a sophisticated process that
the science of language has largely ignored. As illustrated above, a limited
number of objects are named, and attention must focus on them lightly—
just enough to activate a token which identifies them without calling up all
the associations they evoke. It is a disciplined, controlled exercise that must
restrain the natural flow of associations and keep the resulting image within
narrow bounds.
Mental tokens also play an important role in planning complex behavior.
Almost all animals, even the smallest and simplest, are able to pre-play action
sequences mentally before executing them, and preview their likely consequences. This is done by manipulating symbols. The power to pre-enact
responses internally confers a huge benefit to animals by making it possible to
have rational, well-planned behavior.
The purposeful activity of all animals reveals that mental tokens, or symbols,
are being used. For example, a bird observes a hole in a tree-trunk, flies in search
of a thin twig, then pokes the twig into the hole. The hole and the twig are
mentally present as tokens, and the idea of inserting the twig in the hole is no
different from your idea of using a screwdriver to loosen a part of a machine.
It is analytic understanding, represented in mind propositionally.
The presence of tokens in the brain as stand-ins or representatives of complex
objects is confirmed today by experiments on single neurons. It is known that