Is Our Brain an Open or Closed System? Prediction Model of Brain and World–Brain Relation

G. Northoff
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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Some recent philosophical discussions consider whether the brain is best understood as an open or closed system. This issue has major epistemic consequences akin to the scepticism engendered by the famous Cartesian demon. Specifically, one and the same empirical theory of brain function, predictive coding, entailing a prediction model of brain, have been associated with contradictory views of the brain as either open (Clark, 2012, 2013) or closed (Hohwy, 2013, 2014). Based on recent empirical evidence, the present paper argues that contrary to appearances, these views of the brain are compatible with one another. I suggest that there are two main forms of neural activity in the brain, one of which can be characterized as open, and the other as closed. Stimulus-induced activity, because it relies on predictive coding is indeed closed to the world, which entails that in certain respects, the brain is an inferentially secluded and self-evidencing system. In contrast, the brain’s resting state or spontaneous activity is best taken as open because it is a world-evidencing system that allows for the brain’s neural activity to align with the statistically-based spatiotemporal structure of objects and events in the world. This model requires an important caveat, however. Due to its statistically-based nature, the resting state’s alignment to the world comes in degrees. In extreme cases, the degree of alignment can be extremely low, resulting in a resting state that is barely if at all aligned to the world. This is for instance the case in schizophrenia. Clinical symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations in schizophrenics are indicative of the fundamental delicateness of the alignment between the brain’s resting-state and the world’s phenomena. Nevertheless, I argue that so long as we are dealing with a well-functioning brain, the more dire epistemic implications of predictive coding can be forestalled. That the brain is in part a self-evidencing system does not yield any generalizable reason to worry that human cognition is out of step with the real world. Instead, the brain is aligned to the world accounting for “world-brain relation” that mitigates sceptistic worries.
我们的大脑是一个开放的还是封闭的系统?脑与世界脑关系预测模型
最近的一些哲学讨论认为,大脑究竟是一个开放的系统,还是一个封闭的系统。这个问题在认识论上有着重要的影响,类似于著名的笛卡尔恶魔所产生的怀疑主义。具体来说,一个相同的大脑功能经验理论,预测编码,涉及大脑的预测模型,已经与大脑开放(Clark, 2012, 2013)或封闭(Hohwy, 2013, 2014)的矛盾观点相关联。基于最近的经验证据,本文认为,与表象相反,这些关于大脑的观点是相互兼容的。我认为大脑中有两种主要的神经活动形式,一种可以被描述为开放的,另一种可以被描述为封闭的。刺激诱导的活动,因为它依赖于预测编码,确实是封闭的,这意味着在某些方面,大脑是一个内在的隐蔽和自证的系统。相比之下,大脑的静息状态或自发活动最好被认为是开放的,因为它是一个世界证据系统,允许大脑的神经活动与世界中物体和事件的基于统计的时空结构保持一致。然而,这个模型需要一个重要的警告。由于其基于统计的性质,静止状态与世界的对齐是有程度的。在极端的情况下,对齐的程度可能非常低,导致静止状态几乎没有与世界对齐。这就是精神分裂症的例子。精神分裂症患者的妄想和幻觉等临床症状表明,大脑的静息状态与世界现象之间的关系是极其微妙的。然而,我认为,只要我们处理的是一个功能良好的大脑,预测编码带来的更可怕的认知影响就可以被预先阻止。大脑在某种程度上是一个自证系统,但这并不能让我们有理由担心人类的认知与现实世界脱节。相反,大脑与世界保持一致,形成了“世界-大脑关系”,减轻了怀疑论的担忧。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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