• groet
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    1 month ago

    And the brain didn’t even know it was naming itself.

    The ancient Egyptians removed the brain before mummification because they considerd it to be basically useless. Later associations between motor control of muscles and the brain were discovered but it wasn’t until the development of modern neuroscience that the brain was considered to be the seat of awareness, self and intelligence.

  • paddirn@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    When you realize brains have named everything they know that exists, and even things that don’t exist.

    • vaguerant@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      This makes me wonder if there are any exceptions, things that brains didn’t name. Onomatopoeia seem like a good starting place (and maybe ending place). Did we name cats’ meows meows or just hear them and go “OK, that’s what that is then”? Cat brains didn’t name them that either, they weren’t thinking what they should call the sound they make, they just made it.

      As far as things which name themselves, I can’t think of anything else but sounds.

      • sqw@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        certainly machines properly name things that brains haven’t been involved in naming (depending on what degree we’re willing to allow that to have been independent). onomatopeia is a naming-interpretation or translation exercise, not the same as the meow truly naming itself.

  • Madrigal@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    1 month ago

    Wait until you realise we’re just a mechanism for the universe to understand and name itself.