Definition
Plain language
The idea that how we think is shaped by having a physical body that touches and moves through the world.
As stated in the literature
The theory that conceptual representations are grounded in sensorimotor experience rather than being purely abstract or amodal; predicts that concepts tied to physical manipulation are more consistent across people.
Also called: embodied, embodied concepts
Why it matters: It suggests that systems learning only from text may miss parts of meaning that people build through physically touching and moving through the world.
For example, when you think about the word 'grab,' your understanding is tied to the memory of your hand actually closing around a cup, not just an abstract dictionary definition.
Heard on the show
“Then you correlate them against a global drawing set and conclude something about embodied cognition everywhere.”Episode 209 — How 2.6 Billion Doodles Exposed the Culture Words Quietly Delete