Tom W.,
The question of how the brain does semiosis is an interesting one, to which I devoted quite a bit of the research that went into my book Turning Signs. The major sources I consulted are listed at http://www.gnusystems.ca/meanlist.htm#brain (scroll both up and down from there). What I gleaned from this research is woven into several chapters of the book and I won’t even try to summarize it here. My blog posts like this one, on the other hand, are more like applications of (or footnotes to) the more systematic presentation in the book. If you want my description of how the brain does semiosis, you can try the middle chapters of the book. } I'm not young enough to know everything. [J.M. Barrie] { <http://gnusystems.ca/wp/> http://gnusystems.ca/wp/ }{ Turning Signs gateway From: Thomas [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 23-Oct-15 14:40 To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PEIRCE-L] Seeing things Gary, List ~ "The chaotic background murmur and crackle of neurons firing, cells doing what they muddily must to stay alive, organizes itself into definite rhythmic patterns, and lo, forms emerge and begin to branch. Presence parts from itself and proliferates as the branches take names." I like how this quote points to the physical presence of objects and interpretants in the brain, and the habitual paths connecting relevant neurons. However, I would have liked it more if your quote had been less lyrical, and instead had described the physical mechanism by which a collection of neurons form an object-interpretant relationship in the brain. I certainly believe they do that. Steve Jobs likened creativity to "connecting the dots" in useful ways that other people haven't before. Those 'dots' are neurons (grey matter) and they rely on electrochemical energy to connect via the brain's white matter. As they make connections with more neurons over the passage of time, some neurons grow larger/dominant and subsequently receive and send out electrochemical signals more efficiently than the others. Thereafter, connections between those enlarged neurons form 'paths' in the physical brain (object+interpretant relationships), so those larger/connected neurons are more likely to contribute to logical deductions in the future. I believe that brain researchers have identified all of the physical mechanisms mentioned above. Identifying the larger/connected neurons as object-interpretant relationships is my perspective (i.e., abduction). Relationships between neurons are 'habits' nourished over time by a flow of electrochemical energy. In solving today's puzzle the energy may flow from neuron A to B, but in solving tomorrow's puzzle it may flow from B to A. The object and interpretant status of neurons is ever-changing, and varies with the Pragmatic objective. Regards, Tom Wyrick
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