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and Norris (1982). I have also been influenced by Garfinkel's (1984 [1967])
ethnomethodological ideas about the indexicality of representation use. For an
introduction see Heritage (1984).)
This idea has many consequences for computation. The relationship be-
tween internal processes and internal symbolic representations is qualitatively
the same as the relationship between a person and a sheet of paper. The idea
of cognition as a process operating on symbolic representations is therefore of
less help than we had hoped. We can put symbolic representations inside our
robots, but the hard problems remain.
What other forms might a theory of symbolic representation take? Vygot-
sky (1978 [1934]; for an introduction see Wertsch 1985) suggests that cognitive
skills involving mental representation arise from the everyday use of physical
representations, many of which are embedded in patterned social relationships.
These skills are diverse because the everyday forms of representation use are di-
verse: speaking and hearing give rise to internal speech, making and looking at
pictures give rise to visualization, and so forth. And the “internal” and “exter-
nal” uses of representations tend to blur together in practice. But the internal
processes differ from the external processes because the insides of our heads
aren't like the outsides. Instead, they are shaped by the kind of machinery we
have in our heads. For example, internalized speech is far more consequential
than internalized writing because our brains are better suited for reproduc-
ing speech than writing. If this is true, then many properties of speech that
philosophy and linguistics have marginalized, such as tone of voice and into-
nation (and their pragmatic import in particular contexts of use), will have to
be readmitted to our theoretical center stage.
A story about photocopier supplies
Back when I worked at counter jobs, I discovered that people are oblivious to
signs. You could put a big red sign with stars and arrows
The machine will be back up at midnight
anywhere you liked and people would still walk up to the counter and ask
“when will the machine be back up?”.
Here is an example of this effect.
Date: Tue, 17 May 1988 17:05 EDT
From: J...
