Confabulation Theory: the Mechanism of Thought

Confabulation theory addresses a pressing scientific question: How does brain information processing, or cognition, work? Cognition is an outgrowth of movement: brain modules, discrete bodies of neuronal tissue which function like muscles, evolved specifically to exploit pre-existing neuronal muscle-control mechanisms and were successfully redeployed to carry out all types of cognition in macroscopic animals. Each brain module describes one attribute, via activation of one of many...
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Confabulation theory addresses a pressing scientific question: How does brain information processing, or cognition, work? Cognition is an outgrowth of movement: brain modules, discrete bodies of neuronal tissue which function like muscles, evolved specifically to exploit pre-existing neuronal muscle-control mechanisms and were successfully redeployed to carry out all types of cognition in macroscopic animals. Each brain module describes one attribute, via activation of one of many symbols, collections of specialized neurons. An individual axonal knowledge link unidirectionally connects a source symbol in a module with a second meaningfully co-occurring target symbol in a second module. A module receiving knowledge links from symbols on other modules can be commanded to 'contract, ' confabulate, yielding a single active conclusion symbol. Multiconfabulation, multiple modules confabulating while mutually communicating via knowledge links, involves massively parallel application of knowledge links. This book offers the first detailed, comprehensible scientific presentation of the theory. With only elementary mathematics as a prerequisite, technologists, scientists, and the educated public will find the book accessible. The attached DVDs provide courseware, including an extended introductory video lecture presenting the theory.