Modularity Theory of Mind
The Modularity theory of mind is the notion that a mind, at least in part, may be composed of separate innate structures which have established evolutionarily-developed functional purposes. Individuals including Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker, Leda Cosmides, John Tooby, and David Buss, believed that all brain functions were founded on specific modules – there would be modules for language, for mating, religion, etc., and so logic.
Archaeologist Steven Mithen writes in The Prehistory of Mind(1996), there is evidence that our ancestors began with a generic intelligence, such as we find in apes.
Others have suggested that ancestors developed three major specialized modules: one for naive physics; one for manufacture of instruments; and one for culture and the politics of coexistence.
Read more about this topic: Evolutionary Logic
Famous quotes containing the words theory and/or mind:
“The human species, according to the best theory I can form of it, is composed of two distinct races, the men who borrow and the men who lend.”
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834)
“We can conceive a thinking being to have either many or few perceptions. Suppose the mind to be reduced even below the life of an oyster. Suppose it to have only one perception, as of thirst or hunger. Consider it in that situation. Do you conceive any thing but merely that perception? Have you any notion of self or substance? If not, the addition of other perceptions can never give you that notion.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)