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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 January 2012
It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
Oscar WildeIn Jane Austen's Emma (1816), near the beginning of the famous outing to Box Hill, we are told that:
Seven miles were travelled in expectation of enjoyment, and everybody had a burst of admiration on first arriving; but in the general amount of the day there was deficiency. There was a languor, a want of spirits, a want of union, which could not be got over. They separated too much into parties … Mr and Mrs Elton, indeed, showed no unwillingness to mix, and be as agreeable as they could … Emma … had never seen Frank Churchill so dull and stupid … [but he] grew talkative and gay, making her his first object. Every distinguishing attention that could be paid, was paid to her. To amuse her, and be agreeable in her eyes, seemed all that he cared for – and Emma … gave him … friendly encouragement … though in the judgement of most people looking on it must have had such an appearance as no English word but flirtation could very well describe.
Much, though not all, of the cognitive functioning described in this passage is being shared between characters. These are social minds in action because they are, in general, public, embodied, and so available to each other. The italicized phrases show that thought can be shared between groups of individuals. Everyone feels the need to engage together in admiration-behavior. The feelings of languor and want of spirits, and the resulting want of union, are jointly experienced.
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