What is this blog all about?

 

Ever since I was a boy, I have been fascinated by the problem of human intelligence. I began by wondering what capacities we humans possess that separate us from the animals. Where do our advanced problem solving skills come from? How is it that we can use languages to communicate with each other, when animal communication seems so simple by comparison? It has something to do with our brains, but how are our brains organised so as to make this possible? What is the connection, in fine detail, between structure and function in the brain?

These questions are huge, and I have spent decades researching them and thinking about them.

Not being religious, I was inclined to seek the answers in science. This blog records where I am up to in that journey of understanding. From the title, you can see that I think the concept of mental representation, in it's broadest possible meaning, is one of the keys to unlocking the puzzle. In future posts I will address the topic of representation in it's broadest forms, from multiple different aspects, until the outlines of a general theory start to come into focus. Stay tuned!

Nick Maley