Well, I was going to argue that step number one in the process, the gathering of raw data, would be considered cognition, but after looking at your defintion...
...the whole thing seems to hinge upon the 'and understanding' portion of the definition. I'd always considered cognition, perhaps wrongly, to be the acquiring of knowledge or understanding through throught, experience, and the senses. To me, gathering data fell under the defintion of cognition, but after looking through a few different defintions, it seems I was wrong on that front.
Also, I disagree that when a theist classifies an experience as god, that is a failure to use cognitive faculties. The act of classification puts it under cognition, regardless of whether it is the correct classification or not. I see this as a misuse of the cognitive faculties. Likewise, I think the mere act of classifying an experience as unknown would requiring engaging the cognitive falcuties, albeit a very tiny portion of those faculties. To me, it seems inevitable that as soon as we have any sort of experience, our brain is hardwired to classify that experience, thus utilizing cogntion.
Quote:cog·ni·tion
Noun:
The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
...the whole thing seems to hinge upon the 'and understanding' portion of the definition. I'd always considered cognition, perhaps wrongly, to be the acquiring of knowledge or understanding through throught, experience, and the senses. To me, gathering data fell under the defintion of cognition, but after looking through a few different defintions, it seems I was wrong on that front.
Also, I disagree that when a theist classifies an experience as god, that is a failure to use cognitive faculties. The act of classification puts it under cognition, regardless of whether it is the correct classification or not. I see this as a misuse of the cognitive faculties. Likewise, I think the mere act of classifying an experience as unknown would requiring engaging the cognitive falcuties, albeit a very tiny portion of those faculties. To me, it seems inevitable that as soon as we have any sort of experience, our brain is hardwired to classify that experience, thus utilizing cogntion.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
