Relating Physiological, Physical, and Political Phenomena

Abstract

We cannot easily avoid structuring our explanations of self and society as well as of in-groups and out-groups without recourse to the center-periphery archetype. The capital city of one's country is typically located in the center of Mercator maps, and subjects who locate the self at the center of a symbolic space give a more rapid interpretation of that symbolic system than subjects not locating the self in the center. These 'central' tendencies are attributed to the role of vision, kinesthesia and touch.