What Kind of Creatures Are We?

“What Kind of Creatures are We?” To paraphrase Noam Chomsky, limited. We can handle problems that fall within the range of our cognitive capabilities. Yet that excludes a significant amount when it comes to our minds, chemistry and physics notwithstanding. What we cannot understand is still a mystery to us, and he uses the term “mysterianism” (or similar) as a way of explaining that we don’t know or aren’t capable of knowing some answers now and may never be. Not all answers will come from literal experience. As an audiobook listen, I did have to stop and rewind occasionally when my mind wandered. I’m sure my retention would improve if I took the time to read or re-play it, but this was sufficient for now. I’ve long admired the author’s work, so I selected this book for the philosophy square on my summer reading #BookBingoNW 2020 card.