The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending And The Mind's Hidden Complexities - Hardcover

Fauconnier, Gilles; Turner, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 046508785X ISBN 13: 9780465087853

Publisher: Basic Books, 2002

Synopsis

Until recently, cognitive science focused on such mental functions as problem solving, grammar, and pattern-the functions in which the human mind most closely resembles a computer. But humans are more than computers: we invent new meanings, imagine wildly, and even have ideas that have never existed before. Today the cutting edge of cognitive science addresses precisely these mysterious, creative aspects of the mind.The Way We Think is a landmark analysis of the imaginative nature of the mind. Conceptual blending is already widely known in research laboratories throughout the world; this book, written to be accessible to both lay readers and interested scientists, is its definitive statement. Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner show that conceptual blending is the root of the cognitively modern human mind, and that conceptual blends themselves are continually combined and reblended to create the rich mental fabric in which we live.The Way We Think shows how this blending operates; how it is affected by (and gives rise to) language, identity, culture, and invention; and how we imagine what could be and what might have been. The result is a bold and exciting new view of how the mind works.

About this title

About the Author

Gilles Fauconnier is Research Professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego. Mark Turner is Institute Professor and Professor of Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University.

Reviews

Conceptual blending, a process that operates below the level of consciousness and involves connecting two concepts to create new meaning, can be used to explain abstract thought, creativity, and language. It is, according to the authors, "at the heart of imagination." This theory, an outcome of a 1992 project led by Fauconnier (chair, cognitive science, Univ. of California, San Diego) and Turner (chair, English, Univ. of Maryland), describes a basic mental operation that is unique to the human species. Numerous examples are offered to illustrate conceptual blending and to demonstrate how it may play out in different "conceptual niches." Blends, which occur constantly without our awareness, are critical for the creation of emergent meanings and "global insight." The authors further argue that language surfaced naturally once the capacity for blending had developed to a critical level about 50,000 years ago. This theory requires a language of its own, generating such terms as counterfactual thinking, compression, projection, and vital relations. While skillfully written, the text, like the human mind, is rather complex. Recommended for cognitive science collections in academic libraries. Laurie Bartolini, Illinois State Lib., Springfield
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 046508785X
• ISBN 13: 9780465087853
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464