IMAGE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1615 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
A physical or mental representation of some object or system.
Physical representations are generally \term“{iconic}” , made to be seen. Mental representations are proper to each individual. Image formation is, at least in man (if not altogether in superior animals), a basic condition for coordinated action.
In J.P. CHANGEUX words, images do result of the “…integrated workings of a perception mechanism of mental objects and of monitoring or their connections” (1992, p.709)
When the relationship between mental and psychic images and the relevant environment is unsatisfactory, action turns inefficient, and in some cases outright pathological, in particular when the image is confused with what we call reality (A. KORZYBSKI, 1950a). Images are a fertile ground of metaphors and analogies, sometimes unfortunately dubious or spurious.
As observed by K. BOULDING (1956), mental images have an imaginary temporal dimension, when referred to past events, even those historical ones whose images had to be learned, being built up through semantic or symbolic messages: None of us ever knew personally Julius CAESAR, but we assembled an image of him, learned from historical records, transmitted through successive generations… and very probably quite inaccurate in some aspects.