The Indexical Species: the key role of icons and indices in unleashing creativity and collective intelligence
Résumé
In his seminal work “The Symbolic Species” Terrence Deacon (1997) brilliantly points to what make us humans so unique – our capacity to conceive of the signs of the highest complexity – the symbols and thereby access the semiotic apex – the symbolic thought. This conceptual paper sets to demonstrate that what unites us with other species, the capacity to interpret and use iconic and indexical signs is of no less importance, but on the contrary, serves as a basis for our capacity to surpass the indexical threshold and thrive. Our basic instincts, our physical reaction to the environment, including people we are working with, pre-condition our mental activities. Hence, stress, anxiety and other physical factors largely impact our cognitive performance both on individual and collective levels. The way we feel determines the way we think and vice versa. Wellbeing (physical, emotional) is requisite for higher order thinking. In order to perform well on the symbolic level, the experience on the indexical level needs to be carefully thought of and designed. When it comes to creative workshops employing such methods as Design Thinking and Creative Problem Solving (CPS), at some stages of the process the symbols are deliberately kept to the minimum or discarded altogether in order to build what is referred to as creative confidence (David and Tom Kelley: 2013). Based on the Peircean semiotics and especially the triadic relations between signs, as well as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory (1943), this paper adopts a transdisciplinary approach and attempts to through light on the way indices impact cognition and thereby determine the nature and quality of higher order mental activities for individuals and groups of individuals. The research findings will help to design agile and empowering learning environments which allow for a better cognitive performance unleashing creativity and collective intelligence.