Abstract
This paper attempts to understand the coexistence of the material and nonmaterial aspects of our lives. By synthesizing ideas about structures, physical entities, mental phenomena, and symbolic relations, we argue that the nonmaterial can emerge from the material, and then the nonmaterial may mediate the production of material entities. Finally, this cycle is applied to notions of creativity and invention.
About the authors
Mark Burgin (b. 1946) is a Visiting Scholar at UCLA. His research interests are mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, and logic. His recent publications include ‘Information theory: A multifaceted model of information’ (2003); ‘Data, information, and knowledge’ (2004); ‘Algorithmic complexity of recursive and inductive algorithms’ (2004); and Super-recursive Algorithms (2005).
John Schumann (b. 1943) is Professor of Applied Linguistics at UCLA. His research interests include second language acquisition, neurobiology of language, neurobiology of learning, language evolution, and biosemiotics. His major publications include The Pidginization Hypothesis (1978); The Neurobiology of Aect in Language (1997); and The Neurobiology of Learning: Perspectives from Second Language Acquisition (with S. E. Crowell, N. E. Jones, N. Lee, S. A. Schuchert, and L. A. Wood, 2004).
© Walter de Gruyter
