Spatial thinking

The 3D structure is crucial in the genetic semantics system and according to the semanticist Greimas (1966) it is inherent to human thinking. He showed that not only we think binary, in antagonists, but also dimensionally, according to aspects. Depth, height and breadth are dimensions of imaginary but nevertheless meaningful positions and movements that form the basis of the meaning. Paul Ricoeur (1977) points out the importance of spatial metaphors. Thinking is orienting oneself in an imaginary space that determines the direction (dimension) and the sense (0 or 1).

Drie dimensies met semantische merkers 0 en 1
Three axes of meaning

The anthropologist Raymond Firth (1962) discusses in his work the depth (communication), the height (power) and breadth (class differences) that are found in the ceremonies and rituals of ancient cultures. The 3 dimensions of affect from the bio-informational theory (Lang & Bradley, 1994) can be evaluated in a spatial model with “pleasure”, “dominance” and “arousal” on the three axes. Also the three dimensions from the personality theory of Eysenck (1998): extraversion, psychoticism and neuroticism fit in this model.


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