# Cosmovision as Cognitive Technology: The Case of Mesoamerican Medicinal Knowledge

## TL;DR

The paper explores how Mesoamerican medicinal knowledge in the Cruz-Badianus codex uses a worldview linking the human body and cosmos to help remember and transmit remedies.

## Contribution

It introduces the idea that cosmovision functions as a cognitive technology for knowledge retention and transmission in traditional medicine.

## Key findings

- The codex reflects a Mesoamerican cosmovision linking the human body and cosmos.
- Cosmological ideas help scaffold and retain medicinal knowledge in the codex.
- Philosophical concepts aid in the transmission of successful remedies.

## Abstract

We examine the use of cognitive technologies in the acquisition and retention of botanical and medicinal knowledge. We focus on the Cruz‐Badianus codex, a 16th‐century Nahua (Aztec) herbarium which discusses the use of plants for a range of illnesses. We show how the codex reflects the Mesoamerican cosmovision, in particular, the association of the human body and cosmos, and the polarity and balance of hot and cold. We hypothesize that the cosmological and philosophical ideas that underlie the medicinal uses prescribed in the codex are not incidental, but rather help to scaffold knowledge, retain in memory successful remedies, and aid the transmission of information.

We examine the use of cognitive technologies in botanical knowledge for medicinal purposes in the Nahua (Aztec) Cruz‐Badianus codex. The Mesoamerican cosmovision, especially the association of human body and cosmos, is reflected in the text.