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The Meaning of Gist and Some Examples
You will remember the gist (the essence or core) of this chapter in mentalese, the language of thought. The same applies to other experiences you have, as, for example, seeing a movie or attending a party. Not only do you absorb the gist of the story line as revealed in the dialogue of the movie (or conversations you had at the party), but you also remember information that other modules have captured during the experience, such as the visual and auditory elements. Later, you can describe not only the gist of the dialogue, but also the gist of the visual setting, the soundscape, and how the experience made you feel emotionally. Mentalese captures the gist of all of this. You don’t store all of it permanently, of course; memories fade over time. Chapter 7 discusses the various types and functions of memory.
Similarly, you can identify a familiar piece of music, even though you hear it in a completely transformed arrangement, played with unfamiliar instruments. You recognize the unfamiliar rendition because you retain the gist of it. For example, you can recognize “My Favourite Things” from The Sound of Music even if it’s played in a jazz arrangement you’ve never heard before. By John Coltrane.
Humans, of all the animal species on this planet, have the largest brain proportion comprised of neocortex (80% of the whole brain). However other animals also have a neocortex brain part, which means they, too, think—even though they don’t have language. Your dog thinks. Your horse thinks. The mountain lion that has been tracking you and your horse thinks. She thinks (translated from mentalese), “Easy dinner or what?”