Point Structure and the Origins of Cognition
2.3 Point Structure and the Origins of Cognition
Starting from the relationship between point structure and subjective intention, we can trace the very origins of human cognition.
All complex judgments and reasoning ultimately return to the initial state:
an undifferentiated whole, split by some intention into the first distinction.
The infant example
For a newborn, the world is a blurred whole, without clear separations such as “cup,” “mother,” or “sound.”
But when the intention of hunger arises, the infant picks out the smell of milk and the mother’s chest.
When the intention of safety arises, the infant captures the embrace and the rhythm of a heartbeat.
The world itself has not changed, but within the infant’s point structure, intention shapes the first cut of differentiation.
The evolution of cognition
As humans grow, they continuously carve new distinctions from the point structure:
- From “edible / not edible” to “like / dislike.”
- From “safe / dangerous” to “respect / insult.”
- From “cooperation / conflict” to “justice / evil.”
All of these higher-level judgments are layered on top of the original fracture within the point structure.
Fundamental insight
- Structure is not fixed externally: it is not a set of labels carried by objective things, but a product of cognition driven by intention.
- Cognition originates from intention: without intention, there is no distinction; without distinction, there is no structure.
- Point structure is the foundation: any complex social negotiation, cultural system, or worldview can ultimately be reduced to a single cut made on a point structure.
Thus, to understand the point structure is to understand the origin of cognition.
It reveals that the so-called “world” is not simply lying there passively—it is continuously being sliced and constructed by intention.
In other words:
The world does not already have meaning, waiting for us to discover it.
Rather, we first have intention, and then we assign meaning to the world.