9/7/2023 0 Comments Strong habits of mind![]() ![]() Learning and socialization no doubt play a huge role, and habits of mind are formed via interaction with values, cultural norms, and other people. Over time, these characteristic patterns of movement and behavior become more engrained and come to comprise an individual's habitual manner of engagement and sense-making. Among human animals with sophisticated nervous systems, objects of desire and need that are placed at a distance in space and time are conceptualized as "goals," the achievement of which require coordinated movement and pursuit of one's interests and goals often leads to the formation of built-up patterns of engagement and response. Of course, gauging meaning and significance in a complex social world such as ours goes well beyond mere survival and self-maintenance, and has much to do with adapting and faring well in a specific socio-cultural context. 7), and is the process whereby it interprets environmental stimuli in terms of their "vital significance." The living organism does not passively receive and process stimuli from an external world, but rather helps to determine what counts as useful information on the basis of its structure, needs, and the way that it is structurally coupled with its surroundings. What Varela and Maturana call 'cognition' and what Thompson has referred to as 'sense-making' is meaning generation that takes place from the concerned perspective of a living organism (Froese and Di Paolo, 2011, p. A living system always has to make sense of the world and supplement itself with what it lacks in order to remain viable. One striking aspect of living systems is that their patterns of interaction with the environment have much to do with their own viability constraints. According to this view, there is close connection between being alive and being cognitive: to be alive is to be capable of cognitive engagements. As articulated by theorists such as Weber and Varela (2002) and Thompson (2007), enactivism asks us to trade in a Cartesian view of mind in favor of a more Aristotelian approach that emphasizes the biological character of mentality (Hutto 2011, 45). In Embodied Selves and Divided Minds (2015), I appeal to insights from enactivism and embodied cognition to examine the notions of subjectivity and selfhood. Keywords: enactivism neoliberalism higher education embodied cognition habits social norms. College and university settings in contemporary neoliberal democracies such as the United States thereby give us a powerful example of how social institutions sometimes serve to cultivate habits of mind that impede human flourishing. Rather than cultivating critical thinking and promoting self-realization, these institutions often undermine such capacities. Inside higher educational institutions guided by neoliberal ideology, individuals are habituated to toxic interaction patterns and modes of valuation. One setting in which habits of mind are profoundly modulated is the college or university. ![]() This environmental influence can either (i) cultivate adaptive habits of mind that promote human flourishing, or (ii) contribute to maladaptive habits of mind that alienate people from deep-rooted human needs and interfere with overall well-being. Cognition and affectivity therefore are best seen as socially embedded and heavily modulated by relationships and norms. Once habits form and become more engrained, there is a sense in which social norms are internalized and sedimented in the body. Learning and socialization play a significant role, and habits of mind are formed via interaction with values, cultural norms, and other people. Over time, these characteristic patterns of movement and behavior become more engrained and come to comprise an individual's habitual manner of sense-making. The achievement of human goals requires coordinated movement, which leads to the formation of built-up patterns of engagement and response. However, gauging meaning and significance in a complex social world such as ours goes well beyond mere survival and self-maintenance, and has much to do with adapting and faring well in a specific socio-cultural context. Sense-making is the process whereby it interprets environmental stimuli in reference to its survival needs. The living organism does not passively receive and process stimuli from an external world, but rather helps to determine what counts as useful information on the basis of its structure, needs, and the way that it is structurally coupled with its surroundings. Life shaping, habits of mind, and social institutionsĭepartment of Philosophy at Emmanuel College de Boston (Massachusetts, United States)Īccording to the enactivist view of the mind, there is close connection between being alive and being cognitive: to be alive is to be capable of cognitive engagements. ![]()
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