The Creation of Knowledge and Meaning
In order to grasp the profound implication that the creation of knowledge and meaning has for conscious and wise decision making based on intentional acts, it is important to first understand information as an active principle, capable as input, of initiating motion via different systems, both mechanical and biological. Human beings act when processing written information after the brain sends the corresponding motor movement signals, which are associated to work or potential energy that is converted into kinetic energy. It is important to emphasize that meaning is fundamental for human imagination, creative work, scientific insight and knowledge, and spiritual experience, to name a few, and that the brain, in symbiosis with the mind and noosphere, must integrate sensory information together with subjective experience that is derived from thoughts and the embodiment of spiritual values like love, for example. These complex brain dynamics that give life to our cognition and consciousness, we conjecture, are deeply rich in cycles and rhythms of creation, and integration of meanings and new knowledge for intentional action that happens in an immediate and intimate now (1st person perspective) and then is turned into stories and narratives with the timeline of past, present and future (3rd person perspective).
|
|
Imagine the act of catching a wave with a surf board; the surfer looks at the horizon for a while and when the wave is presented as coming towards him or her, he or she processes this environmental signal and after several brain transactions, the brain derives information that is then involved in the creation of knowledge and meaning about the wave and the utility of riding the wave. Note that the surfer is usually waiting for a wave in a form of rest, a kind of meditative state, perhaps dominated by frequencies in the alpha band and, at a point in time, when the wave is near, the surfer realizes that it is: 1) a powerful wave and 2) a perfect one, clean and potentially a long ride (prediction) and then 3) he or she acts on it by paddling hard (action, motor movement) to catch the wave. After the long ride the surfer returns with a smile on his or her face (a reward or utility) ready to repeat the cycle. Also note that every wave, no matter how similar, will always be unique and will always actualize the knowledge and meanings about the many skilful and artful movements involved in surfing, eventually leading, after many repetitions of this cycle, to a certain degree of mastery.
When looking at the many energetic transactions involved in learning this art and sport, one is particularly interested in what happens in the brain when the surfer is waiting for the wave (background activity, perhaps dominated by frequencies in the alpha band as mentioned above), then the wave (stimuli) is presented to the surfer and it triggers a process in which meaning and knowledge are derived from the stimuli in a set of non-linear events with their corresponding changes in power in different frequency bands, like the beta and gamma bands for example, involving large scale integration in brain dynamics. The meaning and knowledge created about this particular wave would be associated, let’s say, to size and power of the wave, quality of the wave, a quick forecast about the utility of riding the wave and finally the act of paddling and riding the wave efficiently until the reward is obtained.
A cycle of creation of knowledge and meaning (CKM) has been hypothesized and illustrated via ,experimental data (ECoG signals) measured on the cortex of rabbits. Based on these preliminary findings, the existence of such a cycle is very plausible, showing a duration of approximately one (1) second, comprised of basically five (5) steps. The CKM tells the story of how synchronization-de-synchronization effects with sudden transitions in spatio-temporal neurodynamics could be relevant to cognition and awareness, where the moments of very high synchronization after stimuli (3.25-3.5 seconds) relate to intense attention followed by learning and integration periods with very high de-synchronization (3.5-4 seconds).
Previous studies describe the details and methodology of analysis, where for example, a very high synchronization has been associated with low amplitudes and a very dramatic de-synchronization coupled with a dramatic drop in amplitude.
The most important idea here is that spatially distributed Analytic Amplitude (AA & AA^2) and Signal Amplitude (SA) patterns may carry some information concerning the meaning that the animal or human associates to the stimuli and its relevance for intentional action and decision making.
When looking at the many energetic transactions involved in learning this art and sport, one is particularly interested in what happens in the brain when the surfer is waiting for the wave (background activity, perhaps dominated by frequencies in the alpha band as mentioned above), then the wave (stimuli) is presented to the surfer and it triggers a process in which meaning and knowledge are derived from the stimuli in a set of non-linear events with their corresponding changes in power in different frequency bands, like the beta and gamma bands for example, involving large scale integration in brain dynamics. The meaning and knowledge created about this particular wave would be associated, let’s say, to size and power of the wave, quality of the wave, a quick forecast about the utility of riding the wave and finally the act of paddling and riding the wave efficiently until the reward is obtained.
A cycle of creation of knowledge and meaning (CKM) has been hypothesized and illustrated via ,experimental data (ECoG signals) measured on the cortex of rabbits. Based on these preliminary findings, the existence of such a cycle is very plausible, showing a duration of approximately one (1) second, comprised of basically five (5) steps. The CKM tells the story of how synchronization-de-synchronization effects with sudden transitions in spatio-temporal neurodynamics could be relevant to cognition and awareness, where the moments of very high synchronization after stimuli (3.25-3.5 seconds) relate to intense attention followed by learning and integration periods with very high de-synchronization (3.5-4 seconds).
Previous studies describe the details and methodology of analysis, where for example, a very high synchronization has been associated with low amplitudes and a very dramatic de-synchronization coupled with a dramatic drop in amplitude.
The most important idea here is that spatially distributed Analytic Amplitude (AA & AA^2) and Signal Amplitude (SA) patterns may carry some information concerning the meaning that the animal or human associates to the stimuli and its relevance for intentional action and decision making.
The illustration of the CKM in brain dynamics has been complemented with movies showing the spatio-temporal patterns of various pragmatic information related indices that are based on signal amplitudes for different frequency bands.
As mentioned above, the Cycle of Creation of Knowledge and Meaning is comprised of five (5) steps that occur in a window of time of around one (1) second, just after the presentation of a stimulus, as follows:
The following two (2) videos serve to further illustrate and explain this proposed Cycle of Creation of Knowledge and Meaning.
As mentioned above, the Cycle of Creation of Knowledge and Meaning is comprised of five (5) steps that occur in a window of time of around one (1) second, just after the presentation of a stimulus, as follows:
- Step 1 (3 - 3.1 s): Initial impression, which may be termed the “Awe” (or noticing) moment.
- Step 2 (3.1 - 3.3 s): Chaotic Exploration of memory traces with highly distributed and desynchronized patterns, “Search for meaning” (a wider analysis and connection).
- Step 3 (3.3 - 3.45 s): Recognition/identification of the searched clue/decision which can be termed the “Aha” moment.
- Step 4 (3.45 - 3.6 s): Integration of the new knowledge in a chaotic dynamic process (That’s where it fits).
- Step 5 (3.6 - 3.9 s): Dramatic drop in the indices toward the end of the post-stimulus brain activity, showing a return to the usual, background/default level.
The following two (2) videos serve to further illustrate and explain this proposed Cycle of Creation of Knowledge and Meaning.
|
|
For further reading on this subject see: Pragmatic Information, Intentionality & Consciousness