ABSTRACT
The standard approach to cognitive science has close affinities with positions in social theory that have deep roots in the history of social thought, so it will be convenient to simply point out the basic elements of this family of ideas and explain its relation to the standard approaches to cognition. The European Union has created a vast project to provide a full simulation of the brain using supercomputers which has drawn criticism, and there are parallel efforts in the US and Japan. The vast sums invested in these projects will produce results. Focal points can be understood in neuroscience terms: the act of jointly focusing on something, imitating, and so forth are all familiar neuroscience processes. Diversity and variation produce problems for the idea of culture as code and for the idea that this code has something to do with the "code" in the brain, if there is such a thing.
