Brains don’t solve problems by manipulating symbols. None of these layers are intended to be synonymous. Meditation is basically 4 and 1, with 2 and 3 coming

Brains don’t solve problems by manipulating symbols. None of these layers are intended to be synonymous. Meditation is basically 4 and 1, with 2 and 3 coming and going. Driving is intended to be an example of just 1 and 2. Saying that driving is a “skill” and “we know it can be done unconsciously” suggests to me that other skills can be done unconsciously, too. A lot happens in ten minutes of driving; options are weighed and decisions made. Music composition and doing mathematics (stopping short of the actual symbols) are also habitually developed skills over years of regular practice. Edit: I just remembered that Jonathan Blow reports programming “unconsciously” in the same manner as the driving example. Also, on a good day my consciousness is not devoted to “problem-solving” every second of the day; that would be miserable. I don’t see why conscious awareness is seen as so necessary for thought, the only explanation for me being that many people experience themselves as being their thoughts and not their awareness. It is a journey many of us are on.