p.17 Most people understand "intention" as referring to any conscious, goal-directed
behavior
p.19 Therefore, we can infer that animals have intentions by observing their behaviors,
even if we do not know whether they are conscious of what they do.
p.26 Awareness is implicit in thinking and representing. Some biological systems have consciousness
but, as Franz Brentano pointed out, so far, inanimate machines do not, because they do not have intentions.
p.28 We sniff, move our eyes, cup an ear, and move our fingers to manipulate an object in order to optimize
our relation to it for our immediate purpose. Merleau-Ponty called this dynamic action the search for maximum grip,
which is the optimization of the relation of the self to the world by positioning the sense receptors toward the object
intended.
p.29 John Dewey described the process as "acting into the stimulus" and incorporating it into future
action, as distinct from merely reacting to it. Jean Piaget based his analysis of psychological development on the
concept that infants learned very early about their bodies and their environments by active exploration, which he called "the
cycle of action, assimilation, and adaptation" in what he identified as the "sensorimotor" stage of early childhood, when
infants constantly move their bodies, especially their hands and feet, and drink in the sensations they collect.
