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Full Idea
An elephant may be fully represented by nine primitive shapes ('geons'), but it may require as few as three geons in appropriate relations to be correctly identified.
Clarification
A 'geon' (Biederman 1987) is a geometrical ion, or basic shape
Gist of Idea
Elephants can be correctly identified from as few as three primitive shapes
Source
Alvin I. Goldman (Phil Applications of Cognitive Science [1993], p.7)
Book Ref
Goldman,Alvin I.: 'Philosophical Applications of Cognitive Science' [Westview 1993], p.7
A Reaction
Encouraging the idea of the mind as a maker of maps and models
| 4047 | Gestalt psychology proposes inbuilt proximity, similarity, smoothness and closure principles [Goldman] |
| 4048 | Infant brains appear to have inbuilt ontological categories [Goldman] |
| 4049 | The way in which colour experiences are evoked is physically odd and unpredictable [Goldman] |
| 4044 | Rat behaviour reveals a considerable ability to count [Goldman] |
| 4045 | Children may have three innate principles which enable them to learn to count [Goldman] |
| 4043 | Elephants can be correctly identified from as few as three primitive shapes [Goldman] |