Mental Footnotes: Knowledge Constructivism from Logical Thinking to Daily Functioning
Jose L. VilchezABSTRACT. The mental activity we carry out daily is tiresome. Our cognitive system must save energy in order to be able to solve problems. If we had to reason every single problem that was presented to us, our mental load and fatigue would increase immeasurably. Our minds can avoid the unnecessary waste of resources by taking a shortcut when reasoning. The output of previous reasonings turns into pieces of implicit information that constitute the meanings that we give to things or circumstances. Those meanings determine the manner we represent our environment and, therefore, our beliefs, emotions and behaviors. These “mental footnotes” set the way we contemplate and understand the world.
Keywords: mental footnote; reasoning; psychology of thinking; society
How to cite: Vilchez, Jose L. (2019). “Mental Footnotes: Knowledge Constructivism from Logical Thinking to Daily Functioning,” Review of Contemporary Philosophy 18: 7–22.
Received 24 April 2018 • Received in revised form 1 August 2018
Accepted 3 August 2018 • Available online 25 August 2018
doi:10.22381/RCP1820191