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Single Idea 7845

[filed under theme 18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 3. Modularity of Mind ]

Full Idea

Whenever we have something definite to do at a given moment, we depute a certain person inside us who is accustomed to that sort of duty to keep an eye on the clock and warn us of the time. This inner servant reminded me that Albertine was coming soon.

Gist of Idea

When we need to do something, we depute an inner servant to remind us of it

Source

Marcel Proust (Remembrance of Things Past [1922], Cities.2.1)

Book Ref

Proust,Marcel: 'Remembrance of Things Past' [Penguin 1983], p.735


A Reaction

I think Proust is wrong that we 'depute' this servant. I think it comes as a built-in feature, and the servant could never be abandoned or sacked, no matter how poor the service. Each of us is a team, which includes servants.


The 14 ideas with the same theme [theory of separate units of the mind/brain]:

When we need to do something, we depute an inner servant to remind us of it [Proust]
Modules have encapsulation, inaccessibility, private concepts, innateness [Fodor]
Obvious modules are language and commonsense explanation [Fodor]
Modules make the world manageable [Fodor]
Modules analyse stimuli, they don't tell you what to do [Fodor]
Blindness doesn't destroy spatial concepts [Fodor]
Something must take an overview of the modules [Fodor]
Babies talk in consistent patterns [Fodor]
Rationality rises above modules [Fodor]
Modules have in-built specialist information [Fodor]
Mental modules are specialised, automatic, and isolated [Fodor, by Okasha]
Children speak 90% good grammar [Rey]
Good grammar can't come simply from stimuli [Rey]
Brain complexity balances segregation and integration, like a good team of specialists [Edelman/Tononi]