8. Categorising As Meaningful For An Organism

According to the TNGS, categorising occurs ‘on value’. That is, categorising neuronal systems are linked with value systems — cholinergic and aminergic — of the hedonic centres and limbic system, whose functions include homeostasis and appetites.[1] This means that categorising processes occur in the context of the current state of the organism, and the effect of this is to make categorising meaningful — to matter — to the categorising organism.

Footnote:

[1] Through this linkage, inherited value systems bias the categorising process in ways that have been of advantage to ancestors; the value systems of those who do not survive to reproduce are not passed down the generations of a biological lineage.

ChatGPT said:

Categorising "on Value"

According to Edelman's Theory of Neuronal Group Selection (TNGS), categorising occurs on value. That is, neuronal systems involved in categorisation are linked to value systems — notably the cholinergic and aminergic systems of the hedonic centres and limbic system, which regulate homeostasis, appetite, and emotion.[1] This linkage means that categorisation is not a neutral or detached process: it is modulated by the organism's current internal state. Categorising is embedded within the needs, drives, and affective orientations of the organism.

This has a profound consequence: categorising matters to the categorising organism. The act of categorising is not just informational — it is evaluative. It takes place in a context of significance, shaped by inherited predispositions and real-time physiological states. It is this affective embedding that makes categorisation meaningful in the experiential, not just informational, sense.

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Footnote:

[1] Through this linkage, inherited value systems bias the categorising process in ways that have been advantageous to past generations. The value systems of organisms that failed to survive and reproduce are, by definition, not passed down the biological lineage.