Mind and Matter: Material Foundations of Ideational Change

Abstract

Ideas can be very elusive things. Unseen, they nevertheless leave decidedly visible traces on human behavior. They lend meaning to our observations, while at the same time leaving us inescapably befuddled as to what these meanings mean. They frame our choices, express our predilections and articulate our expectations, hopes and fears. Nothing really makes sense without them. And yet, we have little understanding of how they form, what mechanisms, if any, govern their development and how they affect the behavior to which they are so inextricably, if largely inexplicably, linked. In short, they present a rather intriguing puzzle.