well, you've got to start somewhere, and arguably only by understanding something limited, like navigation in innate coordinate space takes us to a higher abstr

well, you've got to start somewhere, and arguably only by understanding something limited, like navigation in innate coordinate space takes us to a higher abstraction like concept spaces, which in turn can take us to higher cognitive abilities. And we do know a whole lot on how navigation works in animal and human brain, for example, and there is an active research on abstract representations in the brain as an extension of spatial navigation "toolbox". reduction is a basic principle of science.