the concept of ‘cognitive communities’ was once explained to me by an anthropology lecturer at Melbourne University, Dr Douglas Lewis. Here is my own short version of Dr Lewis’ explanation:
Imagine Jack and Jill walking up a hill and Jack says to Jill, “Oh, I’ve forgotten to bring the… the.. the… um…”
“The bucket?” Jill says.
“Yes, yes, the bucket, I forgot to bring the bucket.”
What Jill is demonstrating, is her culturally attuned ability to predict what Jack will say. She helps him out with his cognitive homework (so to speak) and finishes off his sentence. The cognitive work is done by a community of people, i.e. Jack and Jill, who share similar perceptual attunement, modes of attention and cultural training.
Watch Steve Martin complete this sentence: “This may sound a little wierd but…”
