Creativity, information, and consciousness: The information dynamics of thinking.
Physics of Life Reviews December 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2018.05.001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Cognitive architecture Cognitive representation Computational creativity Information theory Machine consciousness Music cognition |
| Key points | Proposes that the mind operates as an information-efficient system that predicts the world and re-represents information to achieve efficiency. |
Abstract
This paper presents a theory of the basic operation of mind, Information Dynamics of Thinking, which is intended for computational implementation and thence empirical testing. It is based on the information theory of Shannon, and treats the mind/brain as an information processing organ that aims to be information-efficient, in that it predicts its world, so as to use information efficiently, and regularly re-represents it, so as to store information efficiently. The theory is presented in context of a background review of various research areas that impinge upon its development. Consequences of the theory and testable hypotheses arising from it are discussed.