The Kekulé Problem

"The Kekulé Problem" is a 2017 nonfiction essay by writer Cormac McCarthy for the Santa Fe Institute. It was his first published work of nonfiction. It was published April 20, 2017 in the scientific magazine Nautilus.[1] The illustrations were created by Don Kilpatrick III.

The title is a reference to August Kekulé and his epiphany connecting the shape of benzene to the symbolic ouroboros.
The circular benzene molecule.

Subject

McCarthy analyzes a dream of August Kekulé's as a model of the unconscious mind and the origins of language. He theorizes about the nature of the unconscious mind and its separation from human language. The unconscious, according to McCarthy, "is a machine for operating an animal" and that "all animals have an unconscious." McCarthy goes on to postulate that language is purely a human cultural creation, and not a biologically determined phenomenon.[2]

Reception

The article was praised by Nick Romeo of The New Yorker.[1]

References
  1. Romeo, Nick. "Cormac McCarthy Explains the Unconscious". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  2. McCarthy, Cormac (April 20, 2017). "The Kekulé Problem: Where did language come from?". Nautilus. No. 47. Retrieved March 23, 2020.

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