Concept Networks are the building blocks of thoughts processes

Every concept conceived in the human mind takes the form of a constellation of neurons in the brain. The sharing of neurons across these “concept networks” is what enables activation of one neural network by another, generating innovative ideas and solutions to problems by association of concepts.

We are capable of encoding in our neurons tens of thousands of different concepts, each composed of a network of about a million concept neurons—about as many as are in an entire wasp brain.

Concept networks are the building blocks of our thought processes. Each of those networks can be accessed independently. The fact that neurons are shared among different networks seems to be the root of the associations we make between different concepts, for it allows the activation of one neural network to spread to another. When we are faced with a question or come upon new information, we operate on those concepts, perhaps merging or splitting them or calling up a new concept on the basis of an association. By stringing such thoughts together, we are led to conclusions. Every concept we ever conceive takes the physical form of a constellation of the neurons in a concept network. They are the realization, in hardware, of our ideas.^[1]

#cognition #complexity #systems #brain-science