Cognitive Semantics and Time Travel

1
Cognitive Semantics and Time Travel

• Krystian Apartakrystian.aparta_at_gmail.com
• www.timetravel.110mb.com

2
Time Travel

• Time travel in physics still theoretical
• Time travel in speculative fiction actual and
  heavily researched

3
Time Travel in fiction

• Early fiction e.g. Urashima Tarou, 720 A.D.
• Early science-fiction e.g. The Time Machine by
  H.G. Wells, 1895

4
Time-travel Themes

• Journey into the past, future, alternative past,
  etc.
• Time machines, consciousness shift
• Dopplegangers, paradoxes (e.g. the grandfather
  paradox, ontological paradox, predestination
  paradox)

5
Rationality of time-travel

• Common themes, but different theories
• Science-fiction theories based on everyday
  rationality
• Some problems clashes with everyday rationality
• Fans argue about which theory makes more sense

6
Cognitive Semantics

• Semantics the study of meaning
• What has meaning, what is meaning different
  semantics
• Cognitive semantics meaningconceptualization

7
Cognitive Semantics

• Many theories, e.g. conceptual metaphor theory,
  conceptual blending theory
• Started in the mid-1970s in the USA
• Some names Fillmore, Lakoff, Rosch, Johnson,
  Fauconnier, Turner

8
Cognitive Semantics

• C.S. the study of conceptual structure
  (knowledge representation) and conceptualization
  (meaning construction) (Bergen, Evans 2006)
• Multidisciplinary cognitive science (neurology,
  cognitive psychology, cognitive anthropology,
  etc.)

9
Embodied experience

• Our experience is structured by the nature of our
  bodies
• Symbols etc. are "prompts" for meaning
  construction
• Conceptual structure interactional properties,
  relations, scenarios, image schemata

10
Conceptualization

• Pre-consciously constructing content using
  conceptual structure
• Pre-conscious (in the cognitive unconscious)
• Meaning construction based on embodied
  experience e.g. image schemata

11
Image schemata

• Based on embodied experience
• Conceptual structures with inner logic
• This logic also structures more "abstract"
  concepts, constrains rational reasoning(e.g.
  CONTAINMENT)
• The inheritance principle in conceptualmetaphor
  theory

12
Conceptual blending

• Theory of meaning construction (Gilles
  Fauconnier, Mark Turner, 1993)
• Conceptual structure blended to yieldnew
  structure
• Selective projection the structure inthe blend
  can be impossible in the input

13
Will it blend?

• Blending is commonplace and pre-conscious
• Human scale working to produce global insight
• Compression compress more diffuse structure
  into familiar "frames" in the blend
• Incompatibility between the inputs does not have
  to matter

14
This surgeon is a butcher.
Generic spacecommon structure
Input space 1SURGEON
Input space 2BUTCHER

• Blend
• blended structure, emergent meaning

15
Time blending 3 conceptual domains
Fauconnier and Turner, 2006

• Domain of events (E)
• Event ordering, type, the subjective experience
  of events (episodic memory)

16
Domain of motion (X)

• Sub-section of E the experience of motion and
  movement with its inner logic
• The Source-Path-Goal schema

17
Motion Event (X) logic

• The spatial logic of X becomes the "abstract"
  logicof our conceptualizations of Events.
• EXAMPLE
• X If there is a direct path between A and B, and
  we are moving on that path towards B,it means we
  are getting closer to B.
• E If the Polish dinner ends with soy cutletand
  potatoes, the more we eat of soy cutlet and
  potatoes, the closer we get to finishing
  dinner/eating.

18
More Motion Logic

• The spatial logic of X is the source of such
  "objective and rational" aspects of Events as
• Length, order, speed, paralell development,
  directionality, etc.

• It is impossible to conceptualize events without
  this spatial logic. It is nota decoration, but
  the content of our conceptualization of events.

19
Universal Events (M)

• Blend of 2 sub-domains the Cyclic Day and the
  Timepiece.
• Cyclic Day the compression of the representation
  of single events (e.g. sunrise, nightfall) into a
  new "concrete" event a cyclic day, which we all
  live through (morning, afternoon, night, etc).

20
Universal Events (M)

• Timepiece representations of recurring
  mechanical or natural events (e.g. the motion of
  a rod between two points on a scale)
• The structure of the Timepiece network blends
  with Cyclic Day, e.g. the representation of a
  certain position of the rod blends with "Noon" in
  the Cyclic Day

21
Universal Events (M)

• Blending Timepiece with Cyclic day yields new,
  objective, universal and recurring events, e.g.
  minutes, seconds, millenia

22
The E/X/M blend 'time"

• Blending the structure of E/X/M yieldsa new
  reality universal, actual, abstract, objective
  events.
• Any concrete "local" event is contained in /
  blended with an abstract universal event in M

23
The source of the concretness of time

• In the E/X/M blend, representations of embodied,
  physical, subjective experience blend with
  abstract, objective, universal events.
• This creates an emergent experiencethe
  subjective, physical and direct experience of an
  abstract, objective and universal event (e.g.
  last Friday).

24
Travel in space

• Representations of complex motion in space
  compressed using the Path schema
• A blended scenario of motion is created, with a
  Path that is abstract, concrete and actual

25
More specific models

• More specific concepts recruited to provide
  better insight
• Question Today, you"re in London. Yesterday, you
  were in Paris. How did you get here?
• A concept recruited for the compression(e.g.
  AIRPLANE TRAVEL)

26
Space travel

• Sometimes a more specific model to compress
  travel in space is not available.
• Question Two days ago, you were in the kitchen.
  Today, you"re in the living room. How did you get
  here?
• In such cases, we are left with the Path schema
  from the E/X/M blend in the blend, we move
  along the path of TIME

27
Space-time travel

• The abstract Path in the E/X/M blend is still
  actual and compressess representations of
  physical, located experiences
• Science fiction provides a specific model of
  motion, which allows the experiencer to retrace
  this Path and visit some of the physical
  locations that it compresses

28
Concepts of location

• "Normal" models of change of location based on
  "physical rules" (e.g. you can't walk in the air)
• New models suspend rules and the writers try to
  make up in many ways, based ona selected model
  of change of location
• E.g. normal human movement movement among
  normal human places ? you time-travel from the
  10th floor to the 9th floor (the 10th hadn't been
  constructed)

29
Many interesting options

• Paradoxes based on the Path schema logic in
  causality
• "Unpacking" the blend causes clashes between the
  abstractness and concreteness of a location/event
• If the natural human location mind in body, the
  body itself other scenarios

30
References

• Aparta Krystian. "Conventional Models of Time and
  their Extensions in Science Fiction." Unpublished
  Master's Thesis. Kraków, Uniwersytet
  Jagiellonski, 2006. lthttp//www.timetravel.110mb.c
  om/Aparta_Models_of_Time.pdfgt
• Bergen, Benjamin K, Vyvyan Evans and Jörg Zinken.
  'the Cognitive Linguistics Enterprise An
  Overview." lthttp//www.port.ac.uk/departments/acad
  emic/psychology/staff/downloads/filetodownload,681
  31,en.pdfgt
• Fauconnier, Giles and Mark Turner
• 2003 The Way We Think. New York Basic Books.
• 2006 Rethinking Metaphor. lthttp//www.cogsci.ucsd.
  edu/faucon/RethinkingMetaphor19f06.pdfgt
• Johnson, Mark. The Body in the Mind. Chicago The
  University of Chicago Press, 1987.