COGNITIVE COMPRESSION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 473 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
The reduction of the complexity of conceptual structures through categorization.
This concept has been introduced by P. CHURCHLAND.
Cognitive compression is operated, or at least expressed through language which, according to A. and H. DAMASIO “… helps to categorize the world and to reduce the complexity of conceptual structures to a manageable scale” (1992, p.63).
Thus a process of abstraction (also described by the structural differential of A. KORZYBSKI) becomes practically operative as “the cognitive economies of language — its facility for pulling together many concepts under one symbol — make it possible for people to establish even more complex concepts and use them to think at levels that would otherwise be impossible” (Ibid).
The authors give two examples, widely different.
The first one is the general concept of “screwdriver”, which does not create real difficulties. The second one, however, “democracy”, implies some serious problems, as would any abstract “label” (to use KORZYBSKI's term), because the content of such compressed categories may be — and frequently is — dubious, as open to cultural or ideological manipulation (propaganda, brain washing, etc…).