Kyle,
>>>"are the actual concepts that we construct in our minds actually shaped/ influenced by the particular 'code' that we use?"
I think by the time we begin to recognize others as beings we've developed the personal 'code' all future 'codes' will succumb to. This initial code is holist/anthropically biased; I think this first 'code' prevents many folks from even momentarily being able to see around it.
~Birth (maybe even conception, followed by birth, if you wish).
Mental concept => input => revised mental concept
~Repeat for 12 months.
My mental concept => input => my revised mental concept
~Repeat for two more years. By this time we've got a tenacious grip on two things: "self" and "other-than-self." As a function of self-interest, that thing that has helped us survive, our first 'code' thus equates self with everything else. This, of course, is part and parcel of why our species is around (= the WAP).
My mental concept => (communication) => Other 'selves' . . . hold on a cotton pickin' minute!
However, another human characteristic responsible for our success thus far is society. And once we recognize that there are other 'selves,' our mind finds that it must maintain its egoism and somehow adhere to society. Hence, the revised model "self," "other selves," and "other-than-selves" allows for our egoism (and boosts community) by crystallizing some fundamental, first 'code' that preserves the ego and sense of community.
-LH |