Finally, in the 20th century, the notion that our bodies have something important to contribute to thinking began to be taken seriously. Martin Heidegger’s 1927 book, Being and Time, proposed the radical idea that being embodied meant you’ve already been “thrown” into some era, speaking a particular language, in a particular body, raised by particular adults. In short, embodiment means you’re situated in a place, time, and culture. No one can entirely think themselves out of their sit- uation because that situation forms their thinking.
Yet more scandalous: Not only does your situatedness shape your thinking, it’s the condition for thinking at all. Being conscious without having any of the scaffolding your situation gives you would leave you like a baby assaulted by sensations you couldn’t make sense of. The view from nowhere is of nothing.
In 1966, Michael Polanyi’s book, Tacit Dimension, took the bodily connection to knowing further: Our bodies know much that our minds do not: Your legs know how to walk, your hands know when pie crust is ready to be rolled, your butt knows how to prepare for a bump you can see in the road ahead. It’s always amazing to me that even though I’ve been a touch typist for over 60 years, I don’t know where all the keys are. Luckily, my fingers do.