"The Mind as a '___'": Past, Present, and Futures of Analogies of Mind & Brain and its Relationship to Technological Development

Abstract

Comparisons of the “mind” (or the seat of mental or cognitive activities) to other, perhaps less esoteric objects, is a feature of interest across cultures and across periods of history. In this paper, we investigate the development of these analogies, as well as how they relate to different periods’ interpretations of how the mind works. We also consider how those discussions relate to the level of technology available to cultures or populations, and potentially associated views of self and others; the role of complex constructions or artifacts, and how this is related to nuance of what generates a person’s experience. Following broad historical analysis, we anchor this discussion in one of the most recent dominant analogies which has influenced popular discourse as well as afforded an attempted cross-disciplinary unification of scholarly activity — the academic arena of Cognitive Science and the likeness of a mind to a computational machine. We conclude with reflection on the nature of technological advancement — for mind & brain analogies, and sense-making in general — alongside technology’s role as a medium for inquiry, reference, and as a portal for understanding others.