Précis of Complexity and the Function of Mind in Nature

defends Olle version. Defends it in what sense? I cxpect that nearly everyone will agree that dealing with environmental complexity is one thing that cognition does for agents such as ourselves. The more difficult question is whether this activity is important enough to be viewed as &dquo;the function&dquo; of cognition. My belief is that the answer may well be yes, as long as &dquo;function,&dquo; &dquo;cognition:’ and &dquo;environmental complexity&dquo; are understood in the right ways. The central hypothesis of this book can be elaborated as follows: A core set of cognitive capacities, including the capacities for perception, internal representation of the world, memory, and decision making, have the function of making possible complex patterns of behavior that enable organisms to deal effectively with complex patterns and conditions in their environments. This core set of cognitive capacities is one that we share with various nonhuman animals; my aim is understanding the role played by cognition in possums as well as people. In fact, the environmental complexity thesis can be understood in a still more general way. Patterns of behavior, and some aspects of the cognitive capacities that make this behavior possible, constitute

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