The Mathematics of Thought

Abstract

Confabulation theory (with which the reader is assumed to be somewhat familiar from Chaps. 1 and 2 and the video presentation) is based upon four mathematical constructs:

• 1. A collection of N finite sets of symbols (each such set is termed a thalamocortical module).

• 2. A directed R +− weighted graph having all of the symbols of all of the modules as its nodes. Each edge of the graph is termed a knowledge link or item of knowledge.

• 3. A “winners-take-all” intersymbol competition operation (termed confabulation) which is carried out within a module over a finite time span — in accordance with an externally supplied thought-command signal.

• 4. A mapping (termed skill knowledge) between each symbol of a module and a subset of the set of action commands associated with that module.

This chapter is based on the original publication Hecht-Nielsen R (2006) The mathematics of thought. In: Yen GY, Fogel DB (eds) Computational intelligence: Principles and practice. IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, Piscataway, NJ, pp 1–16, and is adapted here in accordance with IEEE copyrights.