Comments on: Steven Pinker’s The Stuff of Thought http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/steven-pinkers-the-stuff-of-thought/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:32:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Ivy League Super Ego Type http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/steven-pinkers-the-stuff-of-thought/#comment-21615 Ivy League Super Ego Type Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:12:29 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=1990#comment-21615 "This is a strange theory for an evolutionist to hold. The human mind has a built in abstract framework a la Kant which is there to organize our experiences into categories (domains) before we even have them. Only humans have this with regard to languages, so the first humans to have a language must have come with this ready made. This is a pre-Darwinian outlook." Yes it is, historically. But could you please tell us why it is wrong today or why it conflicts with Darwin? If anything, a bit of reading would tell you that Kant can fit evolution. Also, don't fear the word "design" when talking evolution. Fear a designer. See Kenneth Miller discuss how there is design in nature: http://www.physorg.com/news122479031.html Lastly, "he has said religious beliefs are “akin to astrology or alchemy,” which, in fact, they are." Another ungrounded claim by the author. How is religion like alchemy? Read Kierkegaard and Tillich and please tell me the same thing. Comments like these are only made by communists and ignorant atheists like Sam Harris. Really disappointed. “This is a strange theory for an evolutionist to hold. The human mind has a built in abstract framework a la Kant which is there to organize our experiences into categories (domains) before we even have them. Only humans have this with regard to languages, so the first humans to have a language must have come with this ready made. This is a pre-Darwinian outlook.”

Yes it is, historically. But could you please tell us why it is wrong today or why it conflicts with Darwin? If anything, a bit of reading would tell you that Kant can fit evolution.

Also, don’t fear the word “design” when talking evolution. Fear a designer. See Kenneth Miller discuss how there is design in nature: http://www.physorg.com/news122479031.html

Lastly, “he has said religious beliefs are “akin to astrology or alchemy,” which, in fact, they are.” Another ungrounded claim by the author. How is religion like alchemy? Read Kierkegaard and Tillich and please tell me the same thing. Comments like these are only made by communists and ignorant atheists like Sam Harris.

Really disappointed.

]]> By: Max Shields http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/05/steven-pinkers-the-stuff-of-thought/#comment-20408 Max Shields Wed, 14 May 2008 16:09:56 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=1990#comment-20408 For a deep understanding of the evolution of the cognitive sciences and the inter/intradisciplines that are its foundation, there is Francisco Varela's The Embodied Mind. Varela, a true genius in the fields of microbiology/immunology, presents an incredible, and in depth understanding the the life as cognition. Language is not unique to humans. It is a means of communicating. Our language is first and foremost of the physical and evolved into words and syntax. All forms of life communite and embody cognition. as Varela writes, it is not some kind of hierachical notion of evolving and linguistic nuance that is cognition or thinking. Thinking encompasses, not simply the brain, but the entire body and it's structural relationship with its environment. And to add it is always and forever emerging (creative): Yes! For a deep understanding of the evolution of the cognitive sciences and the inter/intradisciplines that are its foundation, there is Francisco Varela’s The Embodied Mind. Varela, a true genius in the fields of microbiology/immunology, presents an incredible, and in depth understanding the the life as cognition. Language is not unique to humans. It is a means of communicating. Our language is first and foremost of the physical and evolved into words and syntax.

All forms of life communite and embody cognition. as Varela writes, it is not some kind of hierachical notion of evolving and linguistic nuance that is cognition or thinking. Thinking encompasses, not simply the brain, but the entire body and it’s structural relationship with its environment. And to add it is always and forever emerging (creative): Yes!

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