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| Mindscapes and Thought Communities |
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Definition
Mindsets we share in common.
We are apart of thought communities.
Cognitive battles are typically between social "camps" rather than simply individuals.
We are members of more than one thought community. And because of that, we have a wide "cognitive repertoire" where we think somewhat differently in different social contexts. |
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Not just about our cognitive commonalities as humans, but also about the major differences in the way we think.
It tries to explain why our thinking is similar as well as why it is different from the way other people think.
We think not just as individuals, but also as social beings. Our social environment affect and constrain the way we interact in the world.
Promotes awareness of our cognitive diversity through recognition of our cognitive differences. |
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Social rules exist that affect as well as constrain our thinking.
These are something we learn.
Becoming social implies not only how to act but also how to think in a social manner. |
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People can be at different stages of their cognitive development.
Our cognitive development is always situated within a particular social context and constrained by specific social circumstances. |
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"primary" level- we acquire the knowledge and cognitive skills expected from all its members.
"secondary" - we acquire the more specialized knowledge and skills that are required in specific sectors within it.
As we become both structurally and functionally more different from one another, we also come to inhabit more specialized thought communities. |
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Term
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The way we perceive things is often influenced by the way they are perceived by others.
Perception transcends our sensory experiences.
We have expectations of our sensory experiences.
Changes in how we view certain things, are prompted not just by factual knowledge, but also by changes in the social and political climate. |
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Term
| Optical Pluralism, Optical Diversity |
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Definition
There are many different mental lenses through which we can "see," and many different ways in which it can be perceived "correctly."
Optical Diversity is the fact that different people often perceive the very same reality somewhat differently. |
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As individuals and members of particular social environments we resist and reject certain "views" of the world. e.g. fortune-teller tales.
There is a sense of conformity at work, which explains the small number of cognitive deviants. |
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We "see" things impersonally. We look at things in social ways.
"Optical" socialization takes place within thought communities, each with its own "optical" traditions.
While the world may look the same for people who happen to wear the same sociomental lenses, it actually looks quite different from people who do not.
But do not forget that as individuals we do have an intricate web of "optical" community affiliations. |
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Term
| The Social Gates of Consciousness |
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Definition
Not only does our social environment affect how we perceive the world, but it also helps determine what "enters" our mind in the first place.
The fine lines/horizons are figments of our minds. |
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| We must disengage figure from ground; perception presupposed some imperception. |
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Any object we perceive as lying outside what we think is moral, is considered irrelevant and does not arouse our moral concerns.
Our moral sentiments are rarely ever boundless. e.g We always presuppose an intended target. |
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| Our mental horizons are not natural nor logical. |
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Definition
They vary across cultures.
Different patterns of mental focusing varies within the same culture:
-in social settings, relevancy matters e.g. someone chewing gum at the park vs. an interview
-in a subculture, style matters e.g. law vs. detective
Our mental horizons also shift with time. e.g. we incorporate moral concerns, scientific breakthroughs. |
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They are socialized to disattend certain things as part of the process of adopting the community's outlook. We learn what to ignore and what is moral.
We pay attention to what makes sense, what fits our mental schema. |
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Our social environment tells us what we should repress--norms of focusing.
Society essentially controls what thoughts cross our minds. e.g media |
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| The social environment affects the way we remember the past. |
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There is a common nature to memories usually within thought communities, therefore, they are not just personal.
Sociology of Memory focuses on the social aspects of the mental act of remembering. |
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| Sociomental Control in Memory |
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Definition
Witnesses tend to be critical to corroborate our memories.
Sometimes other people have better access to our memories that we ourselves.
"Mnemonic Others" can block access to certain events or even prevent them from becoming memories. e.g. "forget this ever happened" |
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These are social. They tell us what to remember and what to forget.
e.g. how we begin historical narratives (U.S. begins with Columbus) |
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We learn what and how to remember and what to forget.
What we remember is often filtered affecting the facts and the "light" in which we view these memories.
-Family plays a large role.
We hold cognitive biases that lead us to remember certain things and not others e.g. stereotypes (librarian with glasses) |
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Much of what we recall is impersonal.
e.g. socially mediated experiences, as a member of mnemonic communities (Jew and Jerusalem--affiliation with groups and their histories from long before we joined them (sociobiographical memory) |
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Identifying with a collective past is important in acquiring a particular social identity.
familiarizing new members with this past is important in incorporating them.
At the same time, exiting the group typically involves forgetting its past. |
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| Freedom from storing memories in the mind |
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| Language, writing, social souvenirs (ruins, relics, old buildings, pre-ruins), video technology, etc. |
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Memories shared by all of its members, jointly shared and remembered.
Historical anniversaries = mnemonic synchronization -> mnemonic battles thereof (fighting over the correct way to interpret the past and what should be remembered in the first place). |
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Our memory of the past is not entirely objective, since we do not all remember it the same way. Yet mnemonic battles usually involve communities and not individuals.
The past is not subjective either, remember is more than just a personal ac because major changes in the way we view the past usually correspond to major social changes. |
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