The Topics, Methods, and Significance of a Higher Cognition Theory

The present paper outlines a pathway for the study of higher cognition. In the forward, the classical model of higher cognition is first introduced. The following contents are divided into five sections. Section 1 emphasizes the mutual dependence between empirical research and normative theory in three major subdomains of cognitive science, namely, reasoning, decision-making, and competition. A unified approach towards integrating reasoning with decision-making and competition is explained. Section 2 describes the modeling of hesitation within cognitive processes, which can be formulated in terms of cognitive fluctuations and permits a dynamical description. Specifically, the notion of logical charge is introduced to explain reasoning dynamics. What may be termed as the motion of logical charge is shown to be associated with a logical current and cognitive field, which in turn draws decision-making towards one of two poles, that being either commitment or refusal. Section 3 extends the powerful tools of dynamic analysis, previously applied for cognitive dynamics, to the domain of economics. It is shown how an interpretation of the Standard Model in the context of economic dynamics lends itself to a comprehensive framework that describes market dynamics, sub-economic dynamics, economic externality dynamics, the model of ordinary rationality, and the inequality mechanism in political economics. Section 4 details a stochastic statistical model relevant to quantum yes-no experiments. Finally, Section 5 provides a general discussion for the future of higher cognition research.