March 29, 31, 1999

Review of Frame semantics

In semantics frames, such as the commercial frame below, words are interdefined relative to a conceptual framework. The frame consists of participants and other entities and a scenario with three states. No where in the frame is a predicate like 'buy' or 'sell'. But, to understand buying and selling, you have to understand the whole frame. Some frame scenarios extend over time, others don't. There are also back ground assumptions or presuppositions. All ideas are defined relative to a frame and frames are grounded in other predicates. This one has 'has' and 'want' indicating possession and desire. Possession is partly social and partly physical possession. Ultimately, these things are grounded in the body and the emotions (such as desire).

The Commercial Event Frame:

Participants: The Buyer, The Seller
Other entities: The goods, the Money.

Scenario:

Initial state:
The Buyer has the Money and wants the Goods.
The Seller has the Goods and wants the Money.

Exchange:
The Buyer gives the Money to the Seller.
The Seller gives the Goods to the Buyer.

Final State:
The Seller has the Money.
The Buyer has the Goods.

Definitions

``Buy'' designates the giving of the Money to the Seller by the Buyer, commercial Event Frame and profiles the Buyer and the Goods and optionally profiles the Money and the Seller.

``Sell'' designates the giving of the Goods to the Buyer by the Seller, profiles the Seller and the Goods and optionally profiles the Money and the Buyer.

``Price'' designates the amount of the Money, and profiles the Money and the Goods.

``Cost'' designates the Money from the perspective of the Buyer, and profiles the Goods and optionally the Buyer.

Some frames inherit the commercial event frame but are more elaborate, for instance, the shopping frame, sales frames for cars, sales frame for computers, etc. Frames form large complex systems. They are related to language in that linguistics terms are defined relative to these frames. They are related to reasoning in that inferences can be made using them. If you know that you are in the final state, you know that the previous two states have happened.

The question is how would frames be represented in a neural model, and how are they related to the verb learn model?

Metaphor

The metaphors found in poetry and rhetoric are actually extensions of ordinary metaphors. For instance, 'he's a warm person' means that he is caring or affectionate. It is a normal linguistics expression (not poetic). Why is affection expressed in terms of warmth rather than 'he stood on his head' or 'he picked his ear'? When you are being cuddled as a child, you feel body warmth, so there is a correlation between warmth and affection in your early experience. These correlations in experience are the basis of a whole metaphor system. We believe that most abstract concepts are really metaphorical versions of sensory motor concepts. This makes sense when you consider how it is possible to learn abstract concepts. You have to somehow do it through your body and your brain. Metaphor seems to be the mechanism through which we take our sensory, physical experience and project it onto our abstract experience. In order to do this, (1) there must be a correlation between the physical and the abstract experiences (2) it must be possible to do abstract reasoning. Sensory motor reasoning is the kind of reasoning illustrated by X-schemas. The X-schema structure tells you that if there is a certain environment, a certain action results. This works neurally through spreading activation. So in this account, there is something like motor reasoning going on. When the right conditions are met, an action is triggered. X-schemas are capable of modeling inference, and the claim of Narayan's work is that abstract inference is sensory motor inference mapped through metaphor to an abstract domain. Thus, the claim is that inference in abstract reasoning is modellable in terms of spreading activation of a particular kind.

A general theory put forth by Joe Grady claims that the metaphor system is grounded in the body in terms of 'primary metaphors'. In each primary metaphor, such as AFFECTION IS WARMTH, there is an experience which brings together a subjective judgment (of affection) and a sensory-motor domain (temperature). For this metaphor, such an experience would be cuddling by a parent. Then the correlation shows up in language, in which affection is described in terms of warmth. When the two domains are brought together in an experience, both domains are co-active, and each domain has a frame semantics. This creates a complex frame. Because they are co-active, they become connected neurally through recruitment learning, so that when one is activated the other is activated. They are still separate in the brain, however. The primary idea is that you are understanding affection in terms of warmth.

Affection Is Warmth

Subjective Judgment: Affection
Sensory-Motor Domain: Temperature
Example: They greeted me warmly.
Primary Experience: Feeling warm while being held affectionately.

Important Is Big

Subjective Judgment: Importance
Sensory-Motor Domain: Size
Example: Tomorrow is a big day.
Primary experience: As a child, important things in your environment are often big, e.g., parents, but also large things that exert a force on you.

Happy Is Up

Subjective Judgment: Happiness
Sensory-Motor Domain: Bodily Orientation
Example: I'm feeling up today.
Primary Experience: Feeling happy and energetic and having an upright posture (correlation between affective state and posture).

Intimacy is Closeness

Subjective Experience: Intimacy
Sensory-Motor Experience: Being Physically Close
Example: We've been close for years, but we're beginning to drift apart.
Primary Experience: Being physically close to people you are intimate with.

Bad Is Stinky

Subjective Judgment: Evaluation
Sensory-Motor Domain: Smell
Example: This movie stinks.
Primary Experience: Being repelled by foul-smelling objects and attracted by good- smelling objects (correlation between evaluative and olfactory experience).

Difficulties Are Burdens

Subjective Judgment: Difficulty
Sensory-Motor Domain: Muscular Exertion
Example: She's weighed down by responsibilities.
Primary Experience: The discomfort or disabling effect of lifting or carrying heavy objects.

More Is Up

Subjective Judgment: Quantity
Sensory-Motor Domain: Vertical Orientation
Example: Prices are high.
Primary Experience: Observing rise and fall of levels of piles and fluids as more is added or subtracted.

Categories Are Containers

Subjective Judgment: Perception of Kinds
Sensory-Motor Domain: Space
Example: Are tomatoes in the fruit or vegetable category?
Primary Experience: Things that go together tend to be in the same bounded region (correlation between common location and common properties, functions, or origins).

Similarity Is Closeness

Subjective Judgment: Similarity
Sensory-Motor Domain: Proximity in Space
Example: These colors aren't quite the same, but they're close.
Primary experience: Observing similar objects clustered together (flowers, trees, rocks, buildings, dishes).

Linear Scales Are Paths

Subjective Judgment: Degree
Sensory-Motor Domain: Motion
Example: John's intelligence goes way beyond Bill's.
Primary Experience: Observing the amount of progress made by an object in motion (correlation between motion and scalar notion of degree).

Organization Is Physical Structure

Subjective Judgment: Abstract Unifying Relationships
Sensory-Motor Domain: Experience of Physical Objects
Example: How do the pieces of this theory fit together?
Primary Experience: Interacting with complex objects and attending to their structure (correlation between observing part-whole structure and forming cognitive representations of logical relationships).

Help Is Support

Subjective Judgment: Assistance
Sensory-Motor Domain: Physical Support
Example: Support your local charities.
Primary Experience: Observing that some entities and people require physical support in order to continue functioning.

Time Is Motion

Subjective Judgment: The passage of time
Sensory-Motor Domain: Motion
Example: Time flies.
Primary Experience: Experiencing the passage of time as one moves or observes motion.

States Are Locations

Subjective Judgment: A subjective state
Sensory-Motor Experience: Being in a Bounded Region of Space
Example: I'm close to being in a depression and the next thing that goes wrong will send me over the edge.
Primary experience: Experiencing a certain state as correlated with a certain location, e.g., being cool under a tree, feeling secure in bed.

Change Is Motion

Subjective Judgment: Experiencing a change of state
Sensory-Motor Domain: Moving
Example: My car has gone from bad to worse lately.
Primary Experience: Experiencing the change of state that goes with the change of location as one moves.

Actions Are Self-Propelled Motions

Subjective experience: Action
Sensory-Motor Experience: Moving oneself through space
Example: I'm moving right along on the project.
Primary Experience: One of our most common actions is moving ourselves through space, especially in the early years of life.

Purposes Are Destinations

Subjective Judgment: Achieving a purpose
Sensory-Motor Experience: Reaching a Destination
Example: He'll ultimately be successful, but he isn't there yet.
Primary Experience: Achieving purposes is correlated with reaching destinations throughout everyday life, e.g., if you want a drink, you have to go to the water cooler.

Purposes Are Desired Objects

Subjective Judgment: Achieving a Purpose
Sensory-Motor Domain: Object Manipulation
Example: I saw an opportunity for success and grabbed it.
Primary Experience: Grasping a desired objects (correlation between satisfaction and holding a desired physical object.

Causes are Physical Forces

Subjective Judgment: Achieving Result
Sensory-Motor Domain: Exertion of Force
Example: They pushed the bill through Congress.
Primary Experience: Achieving results by exerting forces on physical objects to move them or change them.

Relationships are Enclosures

Subjective Experience: An Interpersonal Relationship
Sensory-Motor Experience: Being in an enclosure
Example: We've been in a close relationship for years, but it's beginning to seem confining.
Primary Experience: Living in the same enclosed physical space with the people you are most closely related to.

Control Is Up

Subjective Judgment: Being In Control
Sensory-Motor Domain: Vertical Orientation
Example: Don't worry! I'm on top of the situation.
Primary Experience: It is easier to control another person or exert force on an object from above, where you have gravity working with you.

Knowing Is Seeing

Subjective Judgment: Knowledge
Sensory-Motor Domain: Vision
Example: I see what you mean.
Primary Experience: Getting information through vision.

Understanding Is Grasping

Subjective Judgment: Comprehension
Sensory-Motor Domain: Object Manipulation
Example: I've never been able to grasp transfinite numbers.
Primary Experience: Getting information about an object by grasping an manipulating it.

Seeing Is Touching

Subjective Judgment: Visual Perception
Sensory-Motor Domain: Touch
Example: She picked my face out of the crowd.
Primary Experience: Correlation between the visual and tactile exploration of objects.

There are more possible connections made through primary experiences than those that show up in language, and there are more conceptual metaphors that those that show up in language. For instance, in studies of gestures, the past is indicated by gestures to the left and the future is indicated to the right.

Certain types of metaphors come directly through experience. Others are artificial and come through stories, for example, ARGUMENT IS WAR. War is not a primary experience, but struggle is. So what you have is verbal struggle in terms of physical struggle and war is an extension of physical struggle. There are types of metaphors which are based on cultural knowledge. These are not very universal, but the primary metaphors are found in language after language because they are based on primary human experience, not individual cultures. For instance, as far as we know, STATES ARE LOCATIONS is universal.

Chris Johnson has studied the use of the verb 'see' by young children. He has found that the first usage is always the visual meaning; children next use the word in situations where the understanding and visual meanings are both possible as in 'See what I spilled'. The fully metaphorical 'See what I mean' develops last. Chris's hypothesis is that linguistic metaphors go through these stages. When parents use the metaphorical sense of 'see' before their children develop that sense, the children interpret only the visual sense.

We have a metaphor CATEGORIES ARE CONTAINERS. We also reason about categories in the same way that we reason about containers. Logical reasoning about categories is called modus ponens. For instance, Socrates is a man, all men are mortal; therefore, Socrates is a mortal. From our understanding of image schemas, we can reason automatically that if container A contains container B, any object in container B is in container A. This automatic inference has the same structure as modus ponens. This suggests that abstract reasoning comes out of sensory/motor concepts.

A similar example: if you travel from A to B, you have passed through all the points in between, but no points between B and C.
A B C
This logic of motion has the same structure as the logic of linear scales. For instance, if you have 500 dollars in the bank, you also have 450, 300, etc., but not 900, 1000. So there is a metaphor in which linear scales are motion. This gives us linguistic examples such as 'Jill's intelligence goes way beyond Bill's'. Thus, our reasoning about abstract amounts is based on reasoning about motion.

We have two metaphors for time. In one, we move through time which is a landscape ("We're coming up on Easter") and in another, time is moving toward us ("Monday precedes Tuesday; Tuesday follows Monday."). When we think of time, we think of the future in front of us and the past behind us. Examples: "Your whole life is ahead of you." "Don't look back." We have experiences which correlate with this. For instance, if you are moving, you see things in front of you before you are next to them. Or if you experience things moving past you, you see them before they pass you. Phrases such as 'move the meeting ahead' are ambiguous depending on which metaphor is being used. The two metaphors for time are dual of each other. They are reversals of figure and ground. In one metaphor, we are the figure and time (as a landscape) is the ground. In the other, time is the figure (a moving object) and we are the ground. There is no neutral version of time metaphors.

Where The Future Is Behind

But some languages put the past in front of the observer and the future behind. Such a language is Aymara, a Chilean language of the Andes (Núñez, R., Neumann, V., and Mamani, M., in press). The metaphor that The Past Is In Front is grounded by the experience of being able to see the results of what you have just done in front of you. Thus "past time" in Aymara is mayra pacha where mayra is eye, sight, front, and pacha is time. Future time is q''ipa pacha, where q''ipa is back, behind. The following are examples. There are experiential correlates for this reasoning as well. The past is available to us for examination, as are things in front of us. We can't see the future, as we can't see things behind us.

Future

q''ipüru
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
q''ipa back, behind
-uru day
(when two vowels are joined in a composite word, often one is eliminated resulting in a lengthening of the other vowel, in this case u and a results in ü). Literal translation
back-day (or behind-day)
Meaning
Some day in the future

q''ipa marana
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
q''ipa back, behind
mara year
-na in, on, at (relational complement suffix)
Literal translation
back year-in (or behind year-in)
Meaning
(in) a coming year (the next year)

q''ipa uruna
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
q''ipa back, behind
uru day
-na in, on, at (relational complement suffix)
Literal translation
back day-on (or behind day-on)
Meaning
(on the) next day (like "on Tuesday", when it is Monday); also on a coming day, in some moment (in the future)

kinsa q''ipa uruna mistuwa
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
kinsa three
q''ipa back, behind
uro day
-na in, on, at (relational complement suffix)
mistuwa (mistuña: to go out) conjugated for third person
Literal translation
three back day-on go out he
Meaning
He will go out in three days

akata q''iparu
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
aka this
-ta from, (relational complement suffix)
q''ipa back, behind
-ru to, (relational complement suffix)
Literal translation
this-from back-to
Meaning
From here into the future ("from here behind")

akata q''iparu muspa lurañaniwa
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
aka this
-ta f rom, (relational complement suffix)
q''ipa back, behind
-ru to, (relational complement suffix)
muspa big quantity, a lot
luraña to do
-ni- suffix for location. Indicates action in which the persons are nearing
wa indicates first person plural
Literal translation
this-from back-to a lot do-going-we
Meaning
From here into the future we are going to work (do) a lot

akata q''iparu uta lurañaniwa
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
aka this
-ta from, (relational complement suffix)
q''ipa back, behind
-ru to, (relational complement suffix)
uta house
luraña to do
-ni- suffix for location. Indicates action in which the persons are nearing
wa indicates first person plural
Literal translation
this-from back-to house do-going-we
Meaning
Staring now we are going to build (do) a house (which will extend over a certain time in the future)

Past

maymara
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
mayra eye, sight, front
mara year
Literal translation
eye/front year
Meaning
Last year

ancha mayna pachan
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
ancha several, many
mayra eye, sight, front (here contracted with suffix -na)
-na in, on, at (relational complement suffix)
pachan time, (also land)
Literal translation
many eye/front-at time
Meaning
Long time ago

uka ancha mayra pachan pasiwa
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
uka that
ancha several, many
mayra eye, sight, front
pachan time (also land)
pasiwa to happen, conjugated for third person
Literal translation
that several eye/front time happened
Meaning
That happened long time ago

mayra pachana jikhistanwa
Morpheme by morpheme gloss
mayra eye, sight, front
pacha time (also land)
-na in, on, at (relational complement suffix)
jikhistanwa (jikhisiña: to meet) for first and second person singular
Literal translation
Eye-front time-at met you and me
Meaning
We met (in the past)

The Event Structure metaphor combines a lot of primary metaphors and organizes them in a way not shown in the mapping below. There's a frame semantics of motion or journeys, which is structuring the various source domains, locations, movements, paths, forced movements, etc. The mappings map the logic of this frame semantics and apply it to the domain of events. Linguistic examples are given with the mappings below, but it is important to remember that the metaphor is not in the words; it is in the conceptual mappings. So linguistics examples may be ambiguous about which metaphor they are referring to, such as "move the meeting ahead" or "it's all downhill from here."

It's important to see the role of inference in all of this. For example, take states are locations. Many inferences about bounded regions in space are mapped onto states. If you're in a bounded region, you're not out. If you're in a state, you're not out of it. If you're out of a bounded region, you're not in it. If you're out of a state, you're not in it. If you're deep in a region, you're far from begin out of it. If you're deep in a state, you're far from being out of it. If you're on the edge of a bounded region, you are close to being in it. If you're on the edge of a state, you're close to being in it. How is this accomplished neurally? The first answer to this is in Narayan's work. There is a neural mechanism which can account for this and also account for why not every part of the source domain is mapped onto the target domain.

There are also mapped inferences for changes are movements. You go crazy, but come to your senses because normal states are located where you are and abnormal states are located away from you.

The Event Structure Metaphor
(Location Branch)

States are Locations (bounded regions in space).
Changes are Movements (into or out of bounded regions).
Causes are Forces.
Causation is Forced Movement
Actions are Self-propelled Movements.
Purposes are Destinations.
Means are Paths (to destinations).
Difficulties are Impediments to Motion.
External Events are Large, Moving Objects.
Long-term, Purposeful Activities are Journeys.

States are Locations (Bounded regions in space)

I'm in love. He's out of his depression
. changes are Movements (into and out of locations)
I fell in love. I came out of my depression. He went crazy.

Causation is Forced Movement

I brought the water to a boil.
The home run sent the crowd into a frenzy.
I drove him crazy.

Actions are Self-Propelled Motions
Aids to action are Aids to motion
Manner of action is Manner of motion.
Careful action is Careful motion
Speed of Action is Speed of motion

Aids to Action are Aids to Motion
It is smooth sailing from here on in. It's all downhill from here. There's nothing in our way. Manner of Action is Manner of Motion
We're skipping right along. We slogged through it. He is flailing around. He is falling all over himself. He is out of step. He is in step.

Careful Action is Careful Motion
I'm walking on eggshells. He is treading on thin ice. He is walking a fine line.

Speed of Action is Speed of Motion
He flew through his work. It is going swimmingly. Keep things moving at a good clip. Things have slowed to a crawl. She is going by leaps and bounds. I am moving at a snail's pace.

Purposes are Destinations
Plus
Action is Self-Propelled Motion
Yields
Purposeful Action is Self-propelled Motion To a Destination

Making Progress Is Forward Movement
We are moving ahead. Let's forge ahead. Let's keep moving forward. We made lots of forward movement.

Amount of Progress is Distance Moved
We've come a long way. We've covered lots of ground. We've made it this far.

Undoing Progress is Backward Movement
We are sliding backward. We are backsliding. We need to backtrack.
It is time to turn around and retrace our steps.

Expected Progress is a Travel Schedule;

A Schedule is a Traveler who reaches pre-arranged destinations at pre-arranged times.
We're behind schedule on the project. We got a head start on the project.
I'm trying to catch up. I finally got a little ahead.

Starting a Purposeful Action is Starting out on a Path
We are just starting out. We have taken the first step. We've marked out a path.

Achieving a Purpose Is Reaching The End of the Path
We've reached the end. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
We only have a short way to go. The end is in sight. The end is a long way off.

Lack of Purpose is Lack of Direction
He is just floating around. He is drifting aimlessly. He needs some direction.

Lack of Progress is Lack of Movement
We are at a standstill. We aren't getting any place. We aren't going anywhere. We are going nowhere with this.

Means Are Paths
Do it this way. She did it the other way. Do it any way you can. However you want to go about it is fine with me.

Difficulties are Impediments to Motion

Blockages:
He got over his divorce. He's trying to get around the regulations.
He went through the trial. We ran into a brick wall. We've got him boxed into a corner.

Features of the terrain:
He's between a rock and a hard place. It's been uphill all the way.
We've been bogged down. We've been hacking our way through a jungle of regulations.

Burdens:
He's carrying quite a load. He's weighed down by lot of assignments.
He's been trying to shoulder all the responsibility. Get off my back!

Counterforces:
Quit pushing me around. She's leading him around by the nose. He's holding her back.

Lack of an energy source:
I'm out of gas. We're running out of steam.

External Events Are Large Moving Objects

Special Case 1: Things
How're things going? Things are going with me. Things are going against me these days.
Things took a turn for the worse. Things are going my way.

Special Case 2: Fluids
You gotta go with the flow. I'm just trying to keep my head above water.
The tide of events... The winds of change.... The flow of history... I'm trying to get my bearings.
He's up a creek without a paddle. We're all in the same boat.

Special Case 3: Horses
Try to keep a tight rein on the situation. Keep a grip on the situation.
Don't let things get out of hand. Wild horses couldn't make me go. Hold your horses. ``Whoa!'' (said when things start to get out of hand)

There is also duality in the event structure metaphors. Just a something can bring you in and out of a state, something can bring a state to you. See the minimal pair below. The metaphors above belong to the location brand of the event structure system. The dual is the object branch, which is given below.

In the location branch, causes are forces and the thing that's changing is the thing that's moving. "The collapse of the stock market sent the country into a depression." The country is changing. In the object branch, the thing which is changing is standing still, but the property which changes is moving. For instance, "I got a headache." In the first case, causation is forced movement; in the other, causation is giving or taking. These are figure/ground variants and there's no neutral case. These two notions of causation are incompatible and distinct. Of all of the metaphors for causation, there are several which are incompatible. This shows that there is no unified notion of causation. Duality occurs in several places in the metaphor system.

Duality in the Event Structure System

I have a headache. [The headache is a possession.]
I got a headache. [Change is acquisition -- motion to]
My headache went away. [Change is loss -- motion from]
The noise gave me a headache. [Causation is giving -- motion to]
The aspirin took away my headache. [Causation is taking -- motion from

Minimal Pair:
I'm in trouble. [Trouble is a location]
I have trouble. [Trouble is an object that is possessed]

Causation in
The Event Structure Metaphor

Shared Mappings:

Causes are Forces
Changes are Motions

Location Branch:

States are Locations
Purposes are Desired Locations
External Events are Large, Moving Objects
Causation is the forced movement of affected party to a new location

Object Branch:

Properties are Possessions
Purposes are Desired Objects
Causation is the transfer of an effect to or from an effected party

The Event Structure Metaphor
(Object Branch)

Attributes are possessions
Changes are Movements of Possessions (acquisitions or losses)
Causes are forces
Causation is Transfer of Possessions (giving or taking)
Purposes are Desired Objects

These are the duals of:

States are locations
Changes are Movements (to or from locations)
Causes are Forces
Causation is Forced Movement
Purposes are Desired Locations (destinations)

Achieving a Purpose Is Acquiring a Desired Object
They just handed him the job. It's within my grasp. It eluded me. Go for it. It escaped me. It slipped through my hands. He is pursuing a goal. He has interesting pursuits. Latch onto a good job. Seize the opportunity.

Special case: A desired object is something to eat.

Achieving a Purpose Is Getting Something To Eat

He savored the victory. All the good jobs have been gobbled up. He's hungry for success. The opportunity has me drooling. This is a mouth-watering opportunity.

Traditional methods of getting things to eat: hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Each of these special cases can be used metaphorically to conceptualize achieving (or attempting to achieve) a purpose.

Trying to Achieve a Purpose Is Hunting
I'm hunting for a job. I bagged a promotion. The pennant is in the bag.
The typical way to hunt is to use projectiles (bullets, arrows, etc.)
I'm shooting for a promotion. I'm aiming for a career in the movies. I'm afraid I missed my chance.

Trying to Achieve a Purpose Is Fishing

He's fishing for compliments. I landed a promotion. She netted a good job.
I've got a line out on a good used car. It's time to fish or cut bait.

Trying to Achieve a Purpose is Agriculture
It's time I reaped some rewards. That job is a plum. Those are the fruits of his labor.
The contract is ripe for the picking.

The Major Variations
On The Event Structure Metaphor

Actions Are Locations

Actions are Locations
Causes are Forces
Causing an Action is Forcing Movement to A Location
'Closeness' to an Action is Closeness to a Location
Preventing an Action is Stopping Someone From Reaching a Location
I'm going to leave. I'm leaning toward leaving. They pushed him into running for president. They prodded me to run. I was drawn into the bank robbery.
They stopped me from leaving. I've taken steps toward canceling my policy. He's close to resigning. He backed away from resigning. I'm about to leave. He came near to resigning. He nearly resigned. He's inching toward invading another country.

The event structure metaphor is extremely rich. How can it be represented neurally and how would it arise? The theory of primary metaphors (see above) is account of how the metaphors may arise. Narayan's system also addresses this issue in a neural framework. The claim is that the brain uses structures it has, such as the rich, detailed structures for sensory motor concepts, and adapts them to other things, such as abstract concepts. Everything the mind can do has to be done physically be the brain. Everything which is learned has to be built in or learned by a learning mechanism. If the genetics gives you something, you have to show how the built in structure can work.

How are abstract concepts, such as mathematics, learned? They can't be touched or looked at. As we have seen in Regier's system, the brain uses mechanisms in the visual system to compute abstract schemas, such as containers. We have also seen that the spatial logic of containers is used to reason about categories and states. Thus, the basic sensory/motor brain mechanisms are used to understand spatial logic and that logic is applied through metaphor to abstract concepts, which is abstract reasoning. The metaphors are systems of neural computations connecting the sensory/motor parts of the brain to the areas of abstract concepts. In other words, each sensory/motor system has a kind of reasoning. Through metaphorical connections, this reasoning is applied to abstract reasoning. That is the NTL answer to how abstract reasoning is done.

With this approach, abstract reasoning can be learned; it doesn't have to be built in. For instance, there is a basic mathematical ability which is built in. Animals, new born babies and adult people can 'subatize', instantly count a low (4-5) number of elements. They can also instantly add very low numbers. However, the concept of transfinite numbers is certainly not built in. Also, the reasoning about love, government and other abstract things can't be built in, so this kind of reasoning has to be learned.

If mathematics is in the mind, why does it work in the world? How does it accurately symbolize relationships in the world? The truth is that the relationships don't exist out there. The relationships are constructed in the mind. You have metaphors which preserve inference, so the subject matter is stable. Metaphors arise through interaction with the world, and because everyone is living in the same world, they will have the same experiences of the world and therefore the same metaphors. When everybody learns the same metaphors, some of which are primary metaphors, such as addition is putting things into piles, they can get entailments from the metaphors which are literal, which can fit the world and be tested. Scientists have neural representations of their observations of the world and their theories are made to fit with these representations. When you learn a scientific theory, you learn it the same way everyone else does, so the correlation looks like it's in the world. What is the neural mechanism by which metaphors preserve inference? Narayan's theory addresses this issue.

Our way of making metaphors based on correlations of experience can limit our ability to create scientific theories. Intuitive theories are based on metaphors we already have. In other words, the way we learn things in our brains constrains the kind of scientific theories we can have.

Metaphors for the mind: our concept of mind is also metaphorical. There is a basic subsystem of these metaphors, the mind-as-body systems. It has four special cases.

The Mind-As-Body System

The Mind Is A Body
Thinking Is Physical Functioning
Ideas Are Entities With An Independent Existence
Thinking of an Idea Is Functioning Physically With Respect To An Independently Existing Entity

Special Cases

1. Thinking Is Moving
2. Thinking is Perceiving
3. Thinking Is Object Manipulation
4. Thinking Is Eating

Thinking Is Moving

The Mind Is A Body
Thinking Is Moving
Ideas Are Locations
Reason Is A Force
Rational Thought Is Motion That Is Direct, Deliberate, Step-by-Step, and In Accord
With the Force of Reason
Being Unable To Think Is Being Unable To Move
A Line of Thought Is A Path
Thinking About X Is Moving In The Area Around X
Communicating Is Guiding
Understanding Is Following
Rethinking Is Going Over The Path Again

Examples:

My mind was racing. My mind wandered for a moment. Harry kept going off on flights of fancy.

How did you reach that conclusion? We have arrived at the crucial point in the argument. Where are you in the discussion? I'm stuck ! I can't go any further along this line of reasoning.

He was forced to that conclusion. He was led to that conclusion.

You're thinking in circles. He went off on a tangent. You're wandering away from the point.

Let's return to the topic. We're straying from the topic. Here's how we should approach this topic.

Slow down. You're going too fast for me. I can't follow you. I can't keep up with you. Where are you going with this? Can you go over that again?

Another metaphor for mind is THINKING IS PERCEIVING.

The Mind Is A Body
Thinking Is Perceiving
Ideas Are Things Perceived
Knowing Is Seeing
Communicating Is Showing
Attempting To Gain Knowledge Is Searching
Becoming Aware Is Noticing
An Aid To Knowing Is a Light Source
Being Able To Know Is Being Able To See
Being Ignorant Is Being Unable To See
Impediments to Knowledge Are Impediments To Vision
Deception Is Purposefully Impeding Vision
Knowing From a "Perspective" Is Seeing From A Point Of View
Explaining In Detail Is Drawing A Picture
Directing Attention Is Pointing
Paying Attention Is Looking At
Being Receptive Is Hearing
Taking Seriously Is Listening
Sensing Is Smelling
Emotional Reaction Is Feeling
Personal Preference Is Taste

Examples:

I see what you're saying. Newt was engaged in a cover-up . What does he have to hide? He's trying to pull the wool over their eyes. He put up a smoke screen. Don't cloud the issue. I prefer clear writing. That's a pretty murky essay. I'm looking for a way to solve this problem. He's been searching for the truth. I discovered the answer. I found the formula. He's in the dark. They're blind to alternative solutions.. Let's shed light on the matter. That's enlightening, Some new facts that have come to light . He has blinders on. He can only see what's in front of his nose. I've been trying to point out the difficulties so that you can see them. Do I have to draw you a picture?" I get the picture. I always listen to what my father tells me. He's deaf to what I tell him. Something doesn't smell quite right here. You feel strongly that you are right. That's a sweet thought .

Another system is THINKING IS OBJECT MANIPULATION. It is important because it is very common. It is also a major metaphor for understanding communication. Language is understood as a container (the conduit metaphor), and when language is 'sent' to someone else, that person should 'get' the idea. It assumes that ideas are fixed and that once language is sent, the idea will 'reach' the listener, but this doesn't accurately represent real communication situations. Also, the understanding of memory as storage has been an influential metaphor in computer science, linguistics, psychology and cognitive science. It's disastrous because it has nothing to do with how memory actually works in the brain, but it has influence the development of scientific theories. These metaphors are so basic to our understanding of communication and memory that they can't be avoided. There is no neutral way to discuss these domains. They are based on correlations of everyday activity, so we have them whether we want to or not.

Thinking Is Object Manipulation
The Mind Is A Body
Thinking is Object Manipulation
Ideas Are Manipulable Objects
Communicating Is Sending
Understanding Is Grasping
Inability To Understand Is Inability To Grasp
Memory Is A Storehouse
Remembering Is Retrieval (Or Recall)
The Structure of an Idea Is The Structure of An Object
Analyzing Ideas Is Taking Apart Objects

Examples:

Let's play with this idea for a while. We're just tossing around some ideas. Try turning this over in your mind. Can you grasp what he's saying? Do you get it? You have to have it firmly in mind. to start. Let's exchange ideas. I gave him that idea. Try to get those ideas across to them.

I try to put new ideas into the minds of my students. You're cramming their heads too full of facts. That concept went over my head. It right past me. That's a slippery idea. Don't throw too many things at them at once. He threw me a curve. That's beyond his grasp.

Try putting those ideas together. That's a well-crafted theory. Here's how to shape that story. There are several sides to that issue. Let's take Plato's philosophy apart so we can see it from the inside.

Try to see all sides of the issue You should hold this idea up to scrutiny. Try putting what he says under a microscope.

Acquiring Ideas Is Eating

A Well-Functioning Mind Is A Healthy Body
Ideas Are Food
Acquiring Ideas Is Eating
Interest in Ideas Is Appetite For Food
True Ideas Are Healthful Food
Helpful Ideas Are Nutritious Food
False Ideas Are Harmful Foods
Disturbing Ideas Are Disgusting Foods
Interesting, Pleasurable Ideas Are Appetizing Foods
Uninteresting Ideas Are Flavorless Foods
Testing The Nature of Ideas Is Smelling or Tasting
Considering Is Chewing
Accepting Is Swallowing
Fully Comprehending Ideas Is Digesting
Ideas That are Incomprehensible Are Indigestible
Preparing Ideas To Be Understood Is Food Preparation
Communicating Is Feeding
Substantial Ideas Are Meat

Examples:

He has a thirst for knowledge. You need an appetite for learning. My dad had an insatiable curiosity. I don't swallow that. That smells fishy. Your theory stinks. All you have are raw facts. We need more than half-baked ideas. What use are warmed-over theories? That idea isn't palatable. What a rotten idea that is! We need fresh ideas . Those are pretty bland ideas. What a disgusting thought! That's an unsavory idea. It makes me want to puke, Doesn't that make you sick ? That's a lot of shit . That's bullshit.
Let's put those ideas on the back burner. We need to stewed over them. Let's chew on this idea for a while. We don't sugar-coat history. You'll have to force that idea down his throat. Will he swallow it? That thought a bad taste in your mouth. Yuck! There's too much here for me to digest it all. I We don't spoon-feed our students. That's an idea that you can really bite into. What a meaty idea! Let's just chew the fat. They're just regurgitating ideas on the final exam. That's food for thought. We provide rigorous mental training that develops powerful minds. Our text gives lots of exercises.

The Thought As Language Metaphor

Thinking is Linguistic Activity (Speaking or Writing)
Simple Ideas are Words
Complex ideas are Sentences
Fully communicating a sequence of thought is spelling
Memory Is Writing

Examples:

Let me make a mental note of that. She's an open book to me. I can read her mind. I misread his intentions. She has a whole catalogue of great ideas for gardening. I can barely hear myself think. He's an articulate thinker. He doesn't listen to his conscience. His conscience told him not to do it. I don't like the sound of his ideas. That sounds like a good idea. It's Greek to me. Liberals and conservatives don't speak the same language. She can't translate her ideas into well-defined plans. His thoughts are eloquent. What is the vocabulary of basic philosophical ideas? The argument is abbreviated. He's reading between the lines. He's computer literate. I wouldn't read too much into what he says. The theory is spelled out in chapter four. Do I have to spell it out for you. Follow the letter of the law. He's a big question mark to me. Be home by midnight -period!

Thought Is Mathematical Computation

Reasoning Is Adding
Ideas Considered In Reasoning Are Figures Counted In Adding
Inferences Are Sums
An Explanation Is An Accounting

I put 2 and 2 together. What does it all add up to? It doesn't add up. What's the bottom line?" I don't know if we should count that. That doesn't count. Give me an account of why that happened.

The Mind-As-Machine Metaphor

The Mind is a Machine
Ideas are Products of the Machine
Thinking Is The automated step-by-step assembly of thoughts.
Normal Thought Is The normal operation of the machine
Inability to Think Is A Failure of the machine to function

They're turning out ideas at a great rate. "Boy, the wheels are turning now! I'm a little rusty. He had a mental breakdown. The idea doesn't work.

The MIND IS A COMPUTER metaphor combines four of the above metaphors, which is why it is a natural metaphor and easily adopted. The Mind Is A Computer

The Mind is a Machine that reasons Step-by-Step via Mathematical Computations using a Language whose expressions are Objects that are Manipulated; it communicates by Sending, and remembers by Storing.

Physical Computer --> The Person (The Brain)
Computer Program --> The Mind
Formal Symbols --> Concepts
Computer Language --> Conceptual System
Formal Symbol Sequences --> Thoughts
Formal Symbol Manipulation --> Thinking
Algorithmic Processing --> Step-by-Step Thought
Data Base --> Memory
Data Base Contents --> Knowledge
Ability to Compute Successfully --> Ability To Understand