ABSTRACT
Here is a simpleminded theory of human cognition. The role of mental imagery in cognition can be made salient by considering cases in which it fails us. First, the mind perceives an object or some objects before it. For example, the object might be a ripe mango. Then the mind observes that the object has a property or that the objects stand in some relation. For instance, the mind might judge that the mango before it is ripe fruit. Then the mind applies some general knowledge to that observation. For instance, the mind might apply the knowledge that ripe fruit is edible. Finally, the mind draws a possibly useful conclusion: The effect of a successful linguistic exchange will seldom be that the interlocutors all form the same imagistic hypotheses. The several interlocutors will typically have different roles and responsibilities in their exchange. Spoken language may serve as a means by which coordination between these several streams is achieved.
