Abstract

Our intent with this article, given its space limitations, is converging two contemporary models of mind domain. Both are fundamental heuristic tools, being the first, the modular theory of mind, which enables us to understand important aspects of human cognition such as language, memory, learning (cognitive sciences). The second, the ornamental mind theory, explains certain apparent wasteful behaviors. The fundamental presuppositions of both metaphors are distinct: whilst the modular model is a product of cognitive sciences, the ornamental model is the yield of the sexual selection principle. Basically, as heuristic tools, the modular theory demonstrates the mind as a computation, as a product of selection (natural selection) which processes information; on its turn, the ornamental mind theory proposes an awkward idea, which Amotz Zahavi called the handicap principle (sexual selection)