Summary
Embodiment in the field of cognitive science refers to understanding the role of an agent's own body in its everyday, situated cognition. For example, how do our bodies influence the ways we think and speak? Consider the following narrative written by a 23-year-old woman, Sandra, who was asked to describe a recent, important life event. Sandra began her narrative by noting that she was engaged to be married to an older man who worked in the computer industry in northern California. Quite recently, Sandra's fiancé asked her to sign a prenuptial agreement and this request evoked many feelings that Sandra struggled to deal with.
I know that I shouldn't be so naive about this sort of thing, but when he presented me with a draft of the agreement, it was so formal and legal and felt so cold to me that I just broke down crying. I simply couldn't stand to see our future relationship be reduced to questions of money. It seemed like Barry didn't trust me, or that he lacked faith in our future. I had always thought that we were in this together, going forward as partners as we started dating, got serious, then engaged, and hopefully soon married. Now my parents want me to consult with a lawyer to insure I don't get screwed by the pre-nup.
I'm trying hard to find the right balance between understanding Barry's needs to protect himself and my own needs for emotional security … I'm trying to be flexible about the whole thing … I love Barry and I know he loves me and I wish that the feeling of love would be enough to sustain us through anything. […]
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- Embodiment and Cognitive Science , pp. 1 - 13Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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