TITLE:
Mind-Language, the Expanding Heart of Cognition
AUTHORS:
Jacques Coulardeau
KEYWORDS:
Mind, Language, Conceptualization, Cognition, Education
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.6 No.6,
May
23,
2018
ABSTRACT: On the basis of already published research on the phylogeny of language during the emergence of Homo Sapiens starting around 300,000 years ago, and on still-to-be-published research in its final phase on the psychogenesis of language starting in the 24th week of gestation, I will present my work on the central role of two virtual human constructs of man’s nervous system and brain confronted to their real environment, both natural and social. These two constructs, the mind and language, are the results of the development of the general pattern-capturing potential of the brain’s architecture. The mind and language develop simultaneously, reciprocally and in close coordination transforming the pattern-capturing potential of the brain into the mental and linguistic conceptualizing power of men and women. This long process of development can be captured in six stages: to sense; to perceive; to discriminate (or recognize) patterns; to experiment; to speculate, and to conceptualize spatial items and temporal processes. In psychogenetics, these six stages are essential for education. Lev Vygotsky, among others, has proposed the best approach to this conceptualizing competence in children and young adults, and expanding in our whole life.