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Full Idea
Empirical approaches to cognition say the human mind is a blank slate at birth; experiences write on the slate, and association extracts and extrapolates trends from the record of experience. The mind is an image of statistical regularities of the world.
Clarification
'Cognition' is the ability to know things.
Gist of Idea
Empirical approaches see mind connections as mirrors/maps of reality
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (In a Critical Condition [2000], Ch.17)
Book Ref
Fodor,Jerry A.: 'In Critical Condition' [MIT 2000], p.203
A Reaction
The 'blank slate' is an exaggeration. The mind at least has the tools to make associations. He tries to make it sound implausible, but the word 'extrapolates' contains a wealth of possibilities that could build into a plausible theory.
| 16198 | Knowledge is the essence of the mind [Spinoza] |
| 5034 | Mind is a thinking substance which can know God and eternal truths [Leibniz] |
| 23184 | The mind is a simplifying apparatus [Nietzsche] |
| 7131 | The intellect and senses are a simplifying apparatus [Nietzsche] |
| 22652 | The mind has evolved entirely for practical interests, seen in our reflex actions [James] |
| 21949 | Having thoughts and feelings need engagement in the world [Heidegger, by Wrathall] |
| 3995 | A mind is an organ of representation [Lewis] |
| 2508 | The function of a mind is obvious [Fodor] |
| 2503 | Empirical approaches see mind connections as mirrors/maps of reality [Fodor] |