Stereotyping of thinking as a cultural knowledge transmission factor

Stereotyping of thinking is a direct consequence of the rapidly increasing amount of information transmitted in the system of intra-cultural and intercultural communication. Stereotyping distributes the cognitiveload on categorization and systematization of cultural knowledge between subjects of communication, allowingthem to save physiologically limited mental resources. Stereotyped information is more adapted for direct use insolving problems facing the individual than unprocessed volumes that require understanding. One of the functionsof the stereotype is the role of a socio-cultural filter that passes only the information that is consistent with thealready formed system of cognitive schemes of its recipient. From the standpoint of linguistics, the prototypetheory is confirmed by the analysis of units expressing the degree of prototypicality. At the same time, stable proto-and stereotypes are transformed into archetypes, this fact has both a positive and negative effect - instead ofeffective communication schemes in modern conditions, archetyped programs come to life. Communication schemescan activate religious and other cultural attitudes instead of the actual ones which initially were supposed to beused for solving the problem. The fundamentalism of simple images considered as cultural schemes activates thepotential for rejection of proto- and stereotypes, undermining their legitimacy. In the prototype-stereotype-archetypechain, the communicative potential of information components increases along with the growth in external influenceon the subject’s cognitive system. At the same time, the stereotyping of cultural knowledge can be used forcollective programming of a social group, determining its common vector of development. Moreover, repeatedlytested and retransmitted stereotypes pass into the category of archetypes, forming the collective basis of a culturalcommunity. In addition to that, an increase in the dependence of an individual on the transmitted information,including stereotypical information, leads to a decrease in his creative potential, forming in modern society aconsumer attitude not only to the material world but also to cultural knowledge.