The Architectures of Thinking
Keywords:
architecture, cognition, Asian, Western, space, sacred.Abstract
In this paper, we suggest that architectures, especially sacred ones, play a significant role to shape cognition. Therefore, cognition is the result of the relationships between the subjects and their surroundings. By sharing the same environment and the relationships with it, the members of a community would weave “common-sense”, as a common attitude towards what they define as the “reality”. This shared set of values, methods, and attitudes shapes all kinds of cultural artifacts, like language and performative actions.
The effect of natural languages on cognition has been intensively studied by philosophers, linguists, and other cognitive scientists; however, the role of thinking architectures seems underrepresented by them. Although the design of the living spaces greatly contributes to the nurtural formation of our cognition, it has been historically underestimated or neglected.
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