Cognitive Science. Cognitive science: history, psychological foundations, subject, tasks and methods of research

relatively new field of science with a highly specialized focus.

It unites specialists of various profiles. Currently, it is actively developing and accumulating knowledge.

What is the human cognitive realm? Learn about it from ours.

Concept and brief history

What is cognitive science?

Cognitive science in the broadest sense means set of scientific disciplines and research who study intelligence and ways of storing, acquiring, changing and using knowledge.

A narrow definition was given by Michael Eysenck. According to Eysenck, cognitive science is an interdisciplinary study of the application and acquisition of knowledge.

There is another definition according to which cognitive science is interdisciplinary complex of scientific fields who study cognition and higher forms of mental activity and mental processes.

Unites in itself research results in the following sciences:

• psychology;
• philosophy;
• anthropology;
• theory of knowledge;
• neurophysiology;
• theory of artificial intelligence.

Cognitive science arose as a result of opposing the theory of behaviorism, proposed by the American psychologist John Watson.

Watson stated that only behavior should be studied from a scientific point of view, consciousness cannot be the subject of scientific interest.

Since the beginning of the 1950s, Watson's theory has been losing its title as the only true one.

John Miller suggested that pieces of information are encoded and deciphered in the deep reaches of the mind.

Later scientists John McCarthy, Herbert Simon and others found a field of science called artificial intelligence.

The term cognitive science was first used Christopher Longue-Higgins in 1973.

Notable cognitivists

There are a certain number of people in the world who have devoted themselves to the study of cognitive science, and they are rightfully recognized as specialists in this field.

Classical methods at the core

Cognitive science is based on two classical methods.

The first method is called symbolism. The main idea of ​​the method is the similarity between human mental activity and computer thinking. The computer has a central processor in which all incoming information is processed. Man has a similar structure.

The second method is called connectionism. Completely contradicts the first method.

Human thinking cannot be compared with the thinking of a computer processor, because neuroscience data on brain activity refute this statement.

Artificial neural networks can stimulate human thinking.

Cognitive disorders you will find on our website.

Application of knowledge in practice

Knowledge of cognitive science widely used in practice.

Cognitivists can help people with brain problems or dysfunctions. An individual treatment program is developed, as a result, the natural processes in the brain are restored in a person.

Cognitive science allows you to create the right methodology for children to learn languages ​​or other subjects that require the active work of brain regions.

Website Developers can use the accumulated knowledge of cognitive science. When placing an advertisement for the site owner, it is important that the advertising post is immediately noticed by a person, and he would be interested in the proposed option.

For this purpose, it is necessary to understand what kind of organization human attention and perception has, to study the movement of the eyes.

Cognitive science knows the answers to these questions and it helps site owners advertise for your own benefit.

The customers of advertising on television work on the same principle.

Ideally, you can prevent the development of diseases if scientists understand the mechanism of how to send signals to the brain so that it does what the body needs for normal functioning.

Methods of modern cognitive science

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary science, therefore, research methods from psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence theory and others are used.

The brain imaging group includes optical display. Infrared transmitters and receivers are used. A safe technology that allows you to study the brain not only in an adult, but also in infants.

1. Computational modeling. A mathematical formulation of the problem is required. Allows you to understand the functional organization of the cognitive phenomenon.
2. From less popular methods stand out dynamic systems theory, neuro-symbolic integration and Bayesian models, methods of direct brain stimulation, post-mortem studies.

Cognitive science is a young science with a great future. Scientists are doing their best to application of accumulated knowledge in practice, and ordinary people are watching with interest the rapid development of cognitive sciences and acquiring new knowledge about cognition, thought processes.

What is cognitive dissonance? find out right now.

Lecture by M. V. Falikman "Modern cognitive science: inside and outside the cranium":

cognitive science) is a complex of sciences that study cognition and higher thought processes based on the use of information-theoretic models. Includes research in areas such as epistemology, cognitive psychology, linguistics, psycholinguistics, psychophysiology, neuroscience, and computer science. The foundations of cognitive science were laid by the mathematician A. Turing's research on finite automata (1936). He was able to show that to carry out any calculation, it is sufficient to repeat elementary operations. This opened up prospects for testing and implementing the well-known idea of ​​T. Hobbes and D. Boole that thinking is calculation. Testing this idea, the mathematician K. Shannon suggested in 1948 that each element of information can be represented as a choice of one of two equally probable alternatives, and the amount of information transmitted through a communication channel can be measured using a binary number system (in bits). K. Shannon also showed that operations of the algebra of logic are performed in electrical circuits. Later, these results were applied to the study of the brain. As early as 1948, W. McCulloch and W. Pitts put forward the hypothesis that thinking, as a process of processing cognitive information, can in principle proceed in neural networks. Somewhat later, they also developed the first neural model of the brain, where the interaction between networks of neurons imitated the logical operations of propositional calculus. This approach was developed in the works of the neurophysiologist K. Lashley, who in 1951 suggested that the brain should be viewed as a dynamic complex consisting of many interacting systems. A significant contribution to the development of cognitive science was also made by the works of N. Wiener and his colleagues in the field of cybernetics and automata theory, which made it possible to explain some characteristic types of activity of the central nervous system, starting from the analogy between the purposeful functioning of technical systems and the corresponding forms of human behavior. These discoveries served as the basis for further systematic attempts to describe the general structure of the human cognitive system and the formation of cognitive psychology. From con. 1960s analysis of the nature of human cognition with the help of information models is becoming a common approach. The computer revolution, the rapid development of computer technology, had a serious impact on the study of cognitive and thought processes in cognitive science. As a result, the direction gradually became dominant here, focused on the creation of new cognitive computer models (for example, , developed back in 1958 by the Logic Theorist program), which in principle could be considered as quite adequate imitations of various aspects of human cognition. Another direction is associated with the development of expert systems, i.e. programs that generalize the expert level of knowledge in specific areas and ensure the fulfillment of prescribed tasks. Modern computer cognitive models are increasingly being used in a wide variety of fields of science, in one way or another related to human cognition - neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, linguistics, epistemology, etc.

Lit .: Naisser W. Cognition and reality. M., 1981; Anderson J. A. The Architecture of Cognition. Cambr., 1983; Gardner The Minds New Science: A History of Cognitive Revolution. N. Y. 1985.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

cognitive science

COGNITIVE SCIENCE(eng. cognitive science; from lat. cognitio - knowledge, cognition) - an area of ​​interdisciplinary research that studies cognition and higher cognitive functions using models of cognitive information processing. It includes disciplines such as epistemology, cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence research, psycholinguistics, neuropsychology, and, in the last decade, neurocybernetics and computational neuroscience. The bases K. n. were laid down in the study of the mathematician A. Turing on finite automata (1936), who managed to show that repetition of elementary operations is sufficient to carry out any calculation. Turing described some hypothetical ideal computing machine ("Turing machine"), which can have only a fixed finite number of possible "states" and which allows you to determine which function is computable. This opened up prospects for testing and implementing the well-known idea of ​​T. Hobbes and D. Boole that thinking is calculation. Testing this idea, the mathematician K. Shannon suggested (1948) that information can be represented as a choice of one of two equally probable alternatives, and the amount of information transmitted through a communication channel can be measured in bits or using a binary number system (a bit is a binary digit that can take on the value 0 or 1). As a result, a mathematical formalism was discovered that made it possible to evaluate information regardless of its content and carrier. Shannon also showed that the operations of the algebra of logic are performed in electrical circuits. Subsequently, these results were applied to the study of the cognitive functions of the brain. As early as 1948, McCulloch and W. Pitts put forward the hypothesis that thinking, as a process of processing cognitive information, can, in principle, proceed in neural networks. Somewhat later, they also developed the first neural model of the brain, where the interaction between networks of neurons imitated the logical operations of propositional calculus. This approach was developed in the works of the neurophysiologist K. Lashley, who in 1951 suggested that the brain should be viewed as a dynamic complex consisting of many interacting systems. A noticeable contribution to the formation of K. n. the works of N. Wiener and his colleagues in the field of cybernetics and automata theory also contributed, which made it possible to explain some characteristic types of activity of the central nervous system, starting from the analogy between the purposeful functioning of mechanical systems and the corresponding forms of human behavior. These discoveries served as the basis for further systematic attempts to describe the general structure of the human cognitive system in terms of a model of cognitive information processing and the formation of cognitive psychology. From the end of the 60s of the 20th century. analysis of the nature of human cognition with the help of information processing models becomes the rule rather than the exception. A decisive influence on the study of cognitive and thought processes in K. n. had a computer revolution, which contributed to the formation of two main directions here. One of them focuses on the creation of new cognitive models (for example, the Logical Theorist program developed back in 1958 by Newell et al.), which, in principle, could be considered as quite adequate imitations of various aspects of human cognition. Another direction turned out to be related to the development of expert systems - i.e. programs that summarize the expert level of knowledge in specific areas and ensure the fulfillment of prescribed tasks. In K. n. two standard computational approaches to modeling cognitive systems have been developed. The first, earlier, classical approach - symbolicism - proceeds from the assumption that human thinking is functionally equivalent to the thinking of a computer intelligence, consisting of a central processor, which is able to sequentially (i.e., one element after another) process units of symbolic information. Proponents of the second approach - connectionism - believe that the idea of ​​a central digital processor is, in principle, inapplicable to the human cognitive system due to its incompatibility with the relevant data of neurobiology. From their point of view, the work of the cognitive systems of living beings can be simulated using artificial neural networks consisting of "formal" neurons processing information in parallel. Unlike ordinary digital computers, modern neurocomputers are able to process the most diverse (and not just symbolic) information, which is stored as a pattern of a connection established between nodes. In particular, they can effectively recognize patterns, learn, solve complex problems (if, for example, incoming information is accompanied by noise or if a solution cannot be found using a simple algorithm), etc. However, in solving many purely analytical tasks that require clear high-level rules for processing information (for example, learning a language), they are still inferior to digital computers. Widely attracting various models of information processing, K. n. seeks to explain only those cognitive processes that are empirically (experimentally) fixed by psychology - for example, pattern recognition, attention, memorization, problem solving, reasoning, planning, etc. I. P. Merkulov Lit.: SolsoR. Cognitive psychology. M., 1995; ThagardP Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science. Cambridge, 1996.

cognitive science

Everything that people do, they do based on their knowledge. Knowledge is determined by how a person thinks and perceives reality. Hence: the laws of thinking and perception determine everything that people do.

This simple idea contains all the importance of cognitive science - the science that studies the laws of thought and perception. This is not psychology, although it is closely connected with it at times: psychology tries to study the structure of the soul, consciousness, its laws, the forces acting in it, to understand a person fully, and cognitive science studies only the "mechanics" of thinking and perception: how a thought is born from perceptions, and how another thought is born from one thought. The search for answers to these "simple" questions has become the true starting point of organic logic.

The reader should be warned: today the term "cognitive science" is understood much narrower. This is the name given to the study of the work of a person's consciousness as a computer that receives, stores and processes information. The brain is a big computer: this is the main premise of modern cognitive psychology. But we cannot take this idea seriously: a person is only like a computer when he deals with information, but information is far from everything that a person's consciousness deals with. There are still feelings and emotions, beliefs and beliefs, concepts and paradigms, myths and attitudes - in general, everything that gives meaning information, without which it is just a meaningless collection of letters or numbers. Exactly meaning plays a major role in our perception and thinking, and cognitive science cannot do without studying the "laws of meaning", cannot be limited only to the study of the "laws of information".

Let's say it differently. People act out of knowledge, but

Knowledge = information + meaning

And then the question comes first: how does the information we receive from the outside world acquire a certain meaning for us? Or how, from a set of separate excitations in the receptors of our eye, a whole perception of an apple lying on the windowsill is born? Or, how from a disparate set of facts and information about a thing do we get a deep understanding of it?

Modern cognitive science, carried away by computers and tomographs, has forgotten that at the beginning of the 20th century an answer was given in essence to this question. This was done by the founder of the school of Gestalt psychology, Max Wertheimer.

Gestalt theory

If the human brain is a computer, then in order for information to turn into knowledge, a person must first "download" raw information from the outside world through the organs of perception, and then process it with some kind of internal program and get some output at the output, knowledge. That's what many cognitive psychologists think today, and that's what psychologists thought before the early 20th century, even though they never saw computers.

But Wertheimer, in very simple experiments, showed that everything happens in exactly the opposite way. First, a person perceives a thing as a whole, and only then, taking into account this whole, he gives meaning to one or another detail of this thing. That is, perception does not collect the integral meaning of the perceived thing from a mosaic of its individual details, but, on the contrary, immediately grasps its integral meaning and only then turns to its details. Not from the bottom up, but from the top down. Looking at a person, we do not assemble his face in our head from separate details - ears, eyes, nose, mouth, we see the whole face at once. We can instantly recognize a familiar face, for this we do not need time to analyze, process and compare information. And in this we differ from computers, which need to separately and sequentially analyze all the characteristics of a face in order to draw some kind of conclusion.

Wertheimer called these wholes with which we perceive the world (and think) gestalts. Gestalts are the meanings by which we organize our experience, these are the organizing forces of our perception and thinking, without which it would crumble into separate fragments that have no meaning.. This can be seen in brain-injured people: they say every letter of a word, but they can't read it. When they are shown a photograph of a person, they cannot tell if they know him - trying to figure it out from the individual details of the image to no avail.

Wertheimer was the first to investigate the laws of Gestalt, the "laws of meanings" (he called them "the laws of organization of perceptual forms"). And we just followed in his footsteps and were able to enrich Gestalt theory with ideas that were not known until the middle of the 20th century, the ideas of the science of complex systems. Organic logic - what happened as a result.

Extra accurate

cognitive sciences- Cognitive sciences ♦ Cognitives, Sciences Sciences and scientific disciplines, the object of which is knowledge and ways of knowing. Such are neurobiology, logic, linguistics, computer science (the science of artificial intelligence), psychology, and even philosophy ... ... Philosophical Dictionary of Sponville

Cognitive science, cognitive sciences- new areas of knowledge that systematically represent and explore it in all aspects of its receipt, storage, processing, both by man and by machine ... Philosophy of Science. Epistemology. Methodology. culture

COGNITIVE VALUES- the ideas prevailing in society about the goals and results of cognitive activity, the requirements (standards) that the products of this activity must satisfy (empirical, theoretical and technological knowledge). Among the common ... ...

HUMAN SCIENCES- a complex of disciplines that study by private scientific methods (observation, experiment, generalization, modeling) a person as a super-complex integral biosocial system in its genesis, development, structural and functional diversity and unity ... ... Philosophy of Science: Glossary of Basic Terms

Mental processes are processes that are conditionally identified in the integral structure of the psyche. The allocation of mental processes is a purely conditional division of the psyche into its constituent elements, which appeared due to the significant influence of mechanistic ideas on ... ... Wikipedia

Branch of science → studies Interdisciplinary sciences → cooperation with a common scientific goal ... Wikipedia

science mapping- MAPPING SCIENCE. In epistemology and philosophy of science, the interest in the thematic structure of science has been aroused by the general evolution of scientific knowledge. By 70 80 years. 20th century the front of such research is expanding significantly, intensive development ... ...

philosophy of science- PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE is a special philosophical discipline, the subject of which is the structure and development of scientific knowledge. Historically, it is also a philosophical direction, which chooses science as its main problem as epistemological and ... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM OF SCIENCE- a problem related to the philosophical foundations of science as a whole, individual sciences and scientific theories, the philosophical interpretation of the content of fundamental theories: logical-mathematical, natural science, engineering, social and ... ... Philosophy of Science: Glossary of Basic Terms

This term has other meanings, see Frame. Frame is a concept used in the social and human sciences (such as sociology, psychology, communication, cybernetics, linguistics, etc.) meaning in general semantic ... Wikipedia

Books

• Cognitive research. Collection of scientific papers. Issue 1, Valery Solovyov. The series under the general title `Cognitive Research` includes monographs and collections of articles on various aspects of cognitive science. This edition reflects the state of the art…
• Cognitive research. Collection of scientific papers. Issue 5, . The series "Cognitive Research" was founded in 2006 with the aim of publishing monographs and collections of articles on topical issues of cognitive science. Issue 5 contains articles on…

And the theory of artificial intelligence.

In cognitive science, two standard computational approaches to modeling cognitive systems are used: symbolism (the classical approach) and connectionism (the more recent approach). Symbolicism is based on the assumption that human thinking is similar to the thinking of a computer with a central processing unit, sequentially processing units of symbolic information. Connectionism is based on the assumption that human thinking cannot be likened to a central digital processor due to incompatibility with neurobiological data, but can be simulated using artificial neural networks, which consist of "formal" neurons that perform parallel processing of information.

Classical cognitive science ignored the problem of the connection between consciousness and the brain, as well as the problem of the connection between psychology and neuroscience. This caused criticism in her address. In the 1980s, psychologists and neuroscientists began to interact more closely, which led to the emergence of a new science - cognitive neuroscience, using brain imaging methods that make it possible to empirically connect mental phenomena with brain physiology. If classical cognitive science did not take consciousness into account, then in modern cognitive neuroscience consciousness is the subject of study.

The key technological advance that made cognitive science possible was new methods of brain scanning. Tomography and other methods for the first time made it possible to obtain direct data on the functioning of the brain. Increasingly powerful computers also played an important role.

Progress in cognitive science, scientists believe, will allow "unraveling the riddle of the mind," that is, describing and explaining the processes in the human brain that are responsible for higher nervous activity. This will create a system of so-called strong artificial intelligence, which will have the ability to self-learning, creativity, and free communication with a person.

Cognitive science combines computer models drawn from the theory of artificial intelligence and experimental methods drawn from the psychology and physiology of higher nervous activity to develop accurate theories of how the human brain works.

emergence

Cognitive science emerged as a response to behaviorism, in an attempt to find a new approach to understanding human consciousness. In addition to psychology itself, several scientific disciplines turned out to be at the origins at once: artificial intelligence (McCarthy), linguistics (Chomsky), and philosophy (Fodor). At the peak of the development of cybernetics and the appearance of the first computers, the idea of ​​analogy between the human mind and a computer began to gain strength and in many ways laid the foundation for the main theories of cognitivism. The process of thinking was compared to the work of a computer that receives stimuli from the outside world and generates information that is available for observation. In addition to symbols, as the results of the contact of the mind with the outside world, mental images (or representations) have become the object of research. Thus, there was a division into ‘outside’ (objects, objects, …) and ‘inside’ (representations). When asked if the world exists, Cognitive Science answers: ‘No, but our ideas about this world exist’. On the other hand, cognitivism also brought back Cartesian skepticism and left out subjective experiences and emotions.

Embodied cognitive science

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new direction has developed in cognitive science - embodied cognitive science (eng. embodied cognitive science). Its representatives consider the approach of traditional cognitive science and philosophy of mind, which almost completely ignores the role of the body in the activity of consciousness, to be erroneous. The last decade has seen an increase in empirical research in the field of embodied cognition. Supporters of embodied cognitive science reject the idea that consciousness is generated by the brain or is identical to the brain.

Components of cognitive science

The cognitive sciences also include experimental psychology of cognition, neuroscience, cognitive anthropology, cognitive geography, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics.

see also

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Notes

Literature

• Langakker R. W. Cognitive Grammar. - M.: INION RAN, 1992. - 56 p.
• Lakoff J. Cognitive modeling. Language and intelligence. - M.: "Progress", 1996. - 416 p.
• A short dictionary of cognitive terms. / Under the total. ed. E. S. Kubryakova. - M.: Philol. Faculty of Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov, 1997. - 245 p.
• Velichkovsky BM Cognitive science: fundamentals of the psychology of knowledge. In 2 vols. - M .: Meaning: Publishing Center "Academy", 2006.
• Cognitive Science and Intelligent Technologies: Ref. Sat. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - M.: In-t scientific. inform. by society Sciences, 1991. - 228 p.
• Dennett D. Ontological problem of consciousness / Per. from English. A. L. Blinova // Analytical Philosophy: Formation and Development (anthology) / Comp. Gryaznov A. F. - M .: DIC "Progress-Tradition", 1998. - S. 361-375.
• Churchland, P. S. (1986) Neurophilosophy: Towards a Unified Theory of Mind Brain, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bradford Books/MIT Press
• Fodor, Jerry (1998). Concepts: Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong. New York: Oxford University Press
• Jackendoff, R. (1987) Consciousness and the Computational Mind, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bradford Books/MIT Press
• Pinker, S. (1997). How the Mind Works. presented at the New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company
• Varela, F., Thompson, E. and E. Rosch (1991) The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Links

An excerpt characterizing Cognitivistics

Ordering himself a punch and calling Bosse, he began a conversation with him about Paris, about some changes that he intended to make in the maison de l "imperatrice [in the court staff of the empress], surprising the prefect with his memory of all the small details of court relations.
He was interested in trifles, joked about Bosse's love of travel and casually chatted like a famous, confident and knowledgeable cameraman does, while he rolls up his sleeves and puts on an apron, and the patient is tied to a bunk: “It's all in my hands and in the head, clear and definite. When I need to get down to business, I will do it like no other, and now I can joke, and the more I joke and calm, the more you should be sure, calm and surprised at my genius.
Having finished his second glass of punch, Napoleon went to rest before the serious business, which, as it seemed to him, was coming to him the next day.
He was so interested in this task ahead of him that he could not sleep and, despite the runny nose that had worsened from the evening dampness, at three o'clock in the morning, blowing his nose loudly, he went out into the large compartment of the tent. He asked if the Russians had left? He was told that the enemy fires were still in the same places. He nodded his head approvingly.
The duty adjutant entered the tent.
- Eh bien, Rapp, croyez vous, que nous ferons do bonnes affaires aujourd "hui? [Well, Rapp, what do you think: will our affairs be good today?] - he turned to him.
- Sans aucun doute, Sire, [Without any doubt, sovereign,] - answered Rapp.
Napoleon looked at him.
- Vous rappelez vous, Sire, ce que vous m "avez fait l" honneur de dire a Smolensk, - said Rapp, - le vin est tire, il faut le boire. [Do you remember, sir, those words that you deigned to say to me in Smolensk, the wine is uncorked, you must drink it.]
Napoleon frowned and sat silently for a long time, his head resting on his hand.
“Cette pauvre armee,” he said suddenly, “elle a bien diminue depuis Smolensk.” La fortune est une franche courtisane, Rapp; je le disais toujours, et je commence a l "eprouver. Mais la garde, Rapp, la garde est intacte? [Poor army! It has greatly decreased from Smolensk. Fortune is a real whore, Rapp. I have always said this and am beginning to experience it. But the guard, Rapp, are the guards intact?] he said inquiringly.
- Oui, Sire, [Yes, sir.] - answered Rapp.
Napoleon took a lozenge, put it in his mouth and looked at his watch. He did not want to sleep, it was still far from morning; and in order to kill time, it was no longer possible to issue any orders, because everything had been made and was now being carried out.
– A t on distribue les biscuits et le riz aux regiments de la garde? [Have they distributed crackers and rice to the guardsmen?] Napoleon asked sternly.
– Oui, Sire. [Yes, sir.]
Mais le riz? [But rice?]
Rapp replied that he had conveyed the sovereign's orders about rice, but Napoleon shook his head in displeasure, as if he did not believe that his order would be carried out. The servant entered with punch. Napoleon ordered another glass to be served to Rapp and silently sipped from his own.
“I have no taste or smell,” he said, sniffing the glass. - This cold has bothered me. They talk about medicine. What kind of medicine when they can not cure the common cold? Corvisart gave me these lozenges, but they do nothing. What can they treat? Cannot be treated. Notre corps est une machine a vivre. Il est organise pour cela, c "est sa nature; laissez y la vie a son aise, qu" elle s "y defende elle meme: elle fera plus que si vous la paralysiez en l" encombrant de remedes. notre corps est comme une montre parfaite qui doit aller un certain temps; l "horloger n" a pas la faculte de l "ouvrir, il ne peut la manier qu" a tatons et les yeux bandes. Notre corps est une machine a vivre, voila tout. [Our body is a machine for life. It is designed for this. Leave life alone in him, let her defend herself, she will do more alone than when you interfere with her with medicines. Our body is like a clock that must run a certain time; the watchmaker cannot open them and only by groping and blindfolded can he operate them. Our body is a machine for life. That's all.] - And as if embarking on the path of definitions, definitions that Napoleon loved, he suddenly made a new definition. “Do you know, Rapp, what the art of war is?” - he asked. - The art of being stronger than the enemy at a certain moment. Voila tout. [That's all.]
Rapp didn't answer.
Demainnous allons avoir affaire a Koutouzoff! [Tomorrow we will deal with Kutuzov!] - said Napoleon. - Let's see! Remember, in Braunau he commanded an army and not once in three weeks did he mount his horse to inspect the fortifications. Let's see!
He glanced at his watch. It was still only four o'clock. I didn’t feel like sleeping, the punch was finished, and there was nothing to do after all. He got up, walked up and down, put on a warm frock coat and hat, and left the tent. The night was dark and damp; barely audible dampness fell from above. The bonfires did not burn brightly near, in the French guard, and far away through the smoke they shone along the Russian line. Everywhere it was quiet, and the rustle and clatter of the already begun movement of the French troops to take up a position could be clearly heard.
Napoleon walked in front of the tent, looked at the lights, listened to the clatter, and, passing by a tall guardsman in a shaggy hat, who stood sentry at his tent and, like a black pillar, stretched out at the appearance of the emperor, stopped opposite him.
- Since what year in the service? he asked with that habitual affectation of coarse and affectionate militancy with which he always treated his soldiers. The soldier answered him.
- Ah! un des vieux! [BUT! of the old people!] Got rice in the regiment?
- Got it, Your Majesty.
Napoleon nodded his head and stepped away from him.

At half past six, Napoleon rode on horseback to the village of Shevardin.
It began to dawn, the sky cleared, only one cloud lay in the east. Abandoned fires burned out in the faint morning light.
To the right, a thick lone cannon shot rang out, swept and froze in the general silence. Several minutes passed. There was a second, third shot, the air shook; the fourth and fifth resounded close and solemnly somewhere to the right.
The first shots had not yet finished ringing before others rang out, again and again, merging and interrupting one another.
Napoleon rode up with his retinue to the Shevardinsky redoubt and dismounted from his horse. The game has begun.

Returning from Prince Andrei to Gorki, Pierre, having ordered the bereator to prepare the horses and wake him up early in the morning, immediately fell asleep behind the partition, in the corner that Boris gave him.
When Pierre woke up completely the next morning, there was no one in the hut. Glass rattled in the small windows. The Rector stood pushing him aside.
“Your excellency, your excellency, your excellency ...” the bereytor said stubbornly, without looking at Pierre and, apparently, having lost hope of waking him up, shaking him by the shoulder.
- What? Began? Is it time? Pierre spoke, waking up.
“If you please, hear the firing,” said the bereytor, a retired soldier, “already all the gentlemen have risen, the brightest ones themselves have long passed.
Pierre hastily dressed and ran out onto the porch. Outside it was clear, fresh, dewy and cheerful. The sun, having just escaped from behind the cloud that obscured it, splashed up to half of its rays broken by the cloud through the roofs of the opposite street, onto the dew-covered dust of the road, onto the walls of houses, onto the windows of the fence and onto Pierre's horses standing by the hut. The rumble of cannons was heard more clearly in the yard. An adjutant with a Cossack roared down the street.