Before the Word, the Model

Philosophics — Philosophical and Political Ramblings · Jul 25, 2026 · 19m

Language philosopher Bry Willis examines the intricate relationship between perception and language, arguing that human experience is not fundamentally reliant on verbal expression. Through a conceptual flow diagram, the author illustrates how a stimulus transforms into an event via embodied presentation and selective attention long before it is captured by words. This model challenges the idea of unmediated access to reality, suggesting instead that every stage of awareness involves some level of cognitive processing or modelling. By distinguishing between immediate encounters and subsequent…