Discovering the Non-self: The Construction of Language, Trance, and Space

Abstract

We might conceive of a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) as a useful abstraction, whether taking it as fact or not. An LAD is understood for grammars of languages, but can also be applied easily to music theory and mythology. Less obvious is that our identification of space, as 'an active' process, can be described syntactically. We borrow from a Constructivist approach, one where we do not assume the existence of physical space, but merely acknowledge that, 'for some reason', space ends up being conceived in our minds. By discarding the common Platonist belief that our concept of space is a reflection of some 'real' thing, Constructivism offers a useful perspective for understanding how and why we might make distinctions between self and environs.

Keywords

• Child development
• computation
• constructivism
• embodiment
• linguistics
• selfhood
• transducer