A case for applying an abstracted quantum formalism to cognition

The contextual nature of conscious experience suggests that in order to formally model it we should look to the domain of science where contextuality has been most seriously addressed: quantum mechanics. As in quantum mechanics, conscious experience consists of segments of dynamical evolution, which are not contextual and do not involve resolution of ambiguity or decision, and collapse events, which are context-dependent and involve a decision or the resolution of ambiguity. An abstracted quantum mechanical representation of the entity-context interaction, with its hidden creation of new states, is adapted to the description of the conceptualization process for various cognitive domains. We show that Bell inequalitiesÑthe definitive test for quantum structureÑare violated in the relationship between an abstract concept and instances or exemplars of that concept. We summarize work on a theory of concepts that focuses on how the potentiality of a concept gets actualized through interaction with a context, and how the mathematics of entanglement can be applied to concept combination. A full quantum model is presented for the description of (1) contextually-elicited opinions (as in an opinion pole situation), and (2) the alternating change of cognitive state in the liar paradox.

Publication year:2011

Keywords:concept representation, quantum modeling, context, liar paradox, Bell inequalities, consciousness