Is it just me ? I'm unable to extract any meaningful information from this quote which correlates to the subsequent analysis.
Would the man on the Clapham omnibus start from Dr Suess's "Fox in Socks on Knox in Box" and end up postulating that Schroedingers Fox is half alive in a Box in Fort Knox, or that taking away the Box makes everything break down? I'm indebted to someone at the Artificial Intelligence lab at U-Mich for the full text http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/dreeves/Fox-In-Socks.txt the "hidden" metaphors (allusions) of which have inspired many computer designers Sarbajit On 5/7/10, Jochen Fromm <jfr...@t-online.de> wrote: > I think the source of the quote is Henri > Bergson's book "Matter and Memory": > "That there is a close connexion between > a state of consciousness and the brain we > do not dispute. But there is also a close > connexion between a coat and the nail on > which it hangs, for, if the nail is pulled > out, the coat falls to the ground. Shall > we say, then, that the shape of the nail > gives us the shape of the coat, or in any > way corresponds to it?" (introduction, page xi) > > What Henri Bergson (1859-1941) suggests is > that the brain is like the coat hook of the mind. > The coat itself is completely independent from > the nail or the hook, but the coat on the hook is > not possible without the hook, if we take the hook > away, everything breaks down. This is very similar > to the modern idea of supervenience: although it is > independent from it, the mind rests and depends > on the brain, like the coat on the coat hook or > coat-hanger. > > The mind can also be there, or it can be absent, > like a coat which can be present or absent on > a coat hook. And the mind takes only a form > or shape which the connections in the brain > allow, like the coat which takes only the form > which the nail, coat hook or coat-hanger > allows. The question of Henri Bergson if > the brain determines the shape of the mind > is especially interesting: if we can answer how > it does it exactly, we have crossed the gap > between Psychology and Physiology (or > Neuroscience). > > -J. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Nicholas Thompson" <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> > To: <friam@redfish.com> > Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 9:05 AM > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] The coat hook of the mind > > >> >> a metaphor is only as good as its heuristic power and i can't see what >> this one implies. >> > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
