Is Venice east or west of Naples? Our perception of an environment is often influenced by how we categorize things by proximity. Often, we associate words with the way humans think, but we tend to overlook actions and movements. Language is important, but pictures are better remembered than words. 

In this episode, Stanford Professor and member of the governing board of the International Union of Psychological Science, Barbara Tversky discusses how gestures, motion, scenes, and events become the foundation for our thoughts and ideas. She discusses how spatial thinking underpins how maps are created, how they are used, distance and direction, and how they relate to ideas. 

Listen to the end of the show to hear how this cognitive theory can be used as a practical reference for AI, understanding personal interactions in virtual meetings, and creating emphatic designs. 

Episode Quotes:

In simple terms, how is spatial thinking defined and used in your book? 

“Spatial thinking is the foundation of thought, moving in spaces essential to life. If we didn't move in space, we wouldn't find food shelter, avoid dangerous situations, and be attracted to good things. So the basic motion is really approaching, avoiding, going toward or away from something.”

What are the implications of the spatial theory of cognition in AI? 

“Many of the people active in AI are really trying to mimic the mechanisms of the brain. That's been a challenge to AI because it doesn't distinguish what kinds of neurons their specific connectivity is and so forth. And the brain has a lot of specializations that aren’t completely understood. There’s so much left to do. That's truly exciting. But many researchers in AI are now realizing they really need to think about how a body in the world is experiencing things, seeing things, making sense of what it sees. Making sense of how the body interacts with things in the world.”

On emphatic designs:

“If you could think of drawing as frozen gestures, they go beyond. Once you're putting something on paper, it's going to be more complete. It has to be. You see gaps and you also see implications that you haven't thought about.”

Show Links:

Author’s Profile

• Stanford Profile
• Barbara on Twitter

Author’s Work

• Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thoughts
• Google Scholar Articles
• All Publications

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