C. H. McCloy Lecture: Symbols, Conventions, Games, Eleanor Metheny, and the Evolution of Human Intelligence

Abstract

In this essay I argue that Eleanor Metheny was ahead of her time when she argued that non-verbal physical activities carry symbolic meanings and are, for that reason and others, intellectually impressive. I compare her theories on the symbolic process with something that might be called the “conventional process.” I will show why conventional logic rather than symbolic reasoning tells us more about the way intelligence evolved and the potentially impressive role played by games in the advance of human civilization.

Keywords:

• Metheny
• intelligence
• meaning
• symbolic process
• movement

Acknowledgments

This essay is dedicated to the memory of Eleanor Metheny. Thanks are due to John Charles and Cesar Torres who provided helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Notes

² Metheny served a term as chair of the Faculty Senate at the University of Southern California, so her quip was grounded in first hand observations.

¹ See Leigh and Studer (1983) for more information on Metheny's career.

³ Searle's book was about language but interestingly, he used game examples throughout the text to clarify what he meant by a convention and to underline its efficacy. It is almost as if he were saying that understanding conventions through games is easier than understanding conventional language per se.