About this Research Topic

Background

“The Shape of Lives to Come” is a play on the title of H.G. Wells’ 1933 classic futurological science-fiction novel, The Shape of Things to Come, and the theoretical context of this Research Topic has four parts: (i) a fusion of philosophy of mind-&-cognition and sociopolitical theory, called the mind-body politic, focusing on mind-shaping in social institutions, (ii) a philosophy of human civilization since 1900, that defends a categorical distinction between the mechanistic worldview and the organicist worldview, (iii) a dual application of the mind-body politic, together with the mechanistic worldview vs. organicist worldview distinction, to the philosophy and psychology of human thinking, called the theory of thought-shapers (TTS), and (iv) the dual possibility that TTS is empirically testable by means of scientific psychological studies and that if it is confirmed TTS could be implemented to bring about some genuine improvement and progress in human thinking and human lives.

“The Shape of Lives to Come” examines how social institutions partially causally determine, form, and normatively guide (i.e., shape) our essentially embodied human minds-&-lives either negatively or positively (the mind-shaping thesis). It aims to investigate the social psychology of human thinking. What we call thought-shapers are mental representations, especially including analogies, images, schemata, stereotypes, symbols, and templates, that specifically shape human thinking processes. The theory of thought-shapers (TTS) asserts that human thinking processes are either, (a) shaped negatively by mechanical, constrictive thought-shapers, or (b) shaped positively by organic, generative thought-shapers. Because language is a social institution and because all thinking is mediated by language, then TTS (i) falls under the mind-shaping thesis, (ii) is empirically testable via scientific psychology, and (iii) can be implemented for positively shaping human minds-&-lives. The specific problem addressed by this Research Topic is: Is TTS cogent and true, or not?

In view of the broad scope and profound human relevance of this Research Topic, we’re interested in any submissions that have a direct bearing on or direct relevance to The Theory of Thought-Shapers (TTS), and the specific problem of TTS’s cogency and truth, under any of the following article types: brief research report; data report, general commentary; hypothesis and theory; methods; mini review; opinion, original research; perspective; registered report, review; systematic review; technology and code; conceptual analysis.

Keywords: cognition, human thinking, cultural psychology, mind-shaping in social institutions, language

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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