Thoughts Invade Us: Lexical Cognition and Cyberspace

Abstract

This study examines the conventional wisdom that language and discourse are the dominant elements in cognition, in order to ascertain whether the way in which the Department of Defense perceives cyberspace is, in fact, related to the way it has chosen to define the term to begin with. The author explains how words and discourse appear to fashion our mental frames, which combine to ultimately shape our actions. Two case studies involving GEN (Ret.) Keith Alexander and the U.S. Congress test whether the theory of lexical cognition holds true. The study concludes that the theory does not hold true and that something other than language and discourse must have a higher degree of agency in how people approach and interpret an immaterial phenomenon such as cyberspace.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2017
Accession Number
AD1041589

Entities

People

  • Christopher S. Corbett

Organizations

  • School of Advanced Air and Space Studies

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Cognition
  • Computer Networks
  • Congress
  • Cyber Warfare
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cyberspace
  • Cyberspace Operations
  • Information Systems
  • International Relations
  • Linguistics
  • Military Applications
  • Military Science
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • United States
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Cyber
  • Cyber - Legality in Cyberspace