Are Myths Valuable?

[DLJ]

Just checking... did you mean "symbolic processing of information" or processing of symbolic information?  Given that symbols are an input to the process and aren't stored anywhere in the system.

I would take the word "information" to imply that the input was already selected and processed into a symbolic representation, an abstraction.  But if you don't mind the redundancy you could call it the "symbolic processing of symbolic information."  In other words, the decisions we make through reasoning, which in turn affect our behaviors, are completed in a virtual version of the world in our heads.  We are dealing with the real world only selectively and indirectly on that level.

And is not 'reasoning' also a cause-and-effect biological mechanism? Trigger - algorithm - action.

Not to me it isn't, which is why I make the distinction.  The problem from my perspective is that the "cause" is selected by focus and processed into a symbolic representation, which we then respond to.  At that point we are reacting to what's in our head rather than what's "out there."  We only respond directly to the environment in chemical and physical ways.

To make this clear, think of Magritte's painting, "This Is Not a Pipe."  It literally isn't a pipe but just a painting of one, a symbolic representation.

I'm not quite following you. The processing is chemical and physical and we have pattern-detecting cells (grid, edges, head-direction (balance, proximity etc.)) that provide a networked model of reality. We never 'see' actual reality. We 'see' (hear, feel, etc.) a set of indicators that form a schema / model. This model is compared (I know not how but presumably via data arrays) with a baseline model (of expected 'reality'). Is this what you mean by "symbolic processing"?

I'm fine with term "symbolic representation" btw.

Could you please expand upon what you mean by "the "cause" is selected by focus and processed into a symbolic representation"?

If you are talking about filtering (of e.g. significant data events (signal from noise)) and categorisation and prioritisation (impact x urgency) and escalation then I'm OK with that.

If that's what you mean then it's still all biological / biochemical and we are on the same page. Then all we need is conditional branching (if/then) and we can create the illusion of (free-ish) will.