What is the minimal mind model that a primitive organism needs to process the information needed for biosemiotic interpretant power?
The neuroscientist
Donald Hebb said in 1949 that
"
neurons that fire together wire together."
Information philosopher
Bob Doyle suggests that
“
neurons that have been wired together will fire together.”
The ERR Recorder: Neurons become wired together
(strengthening their synaptic connections to other
neurons) during an organism’s experiences, across
multiple sensory and limbic systems.
The ERR Reproducer: Later firing of even a part of
the previously wired neurons can stimulate firing of
all or part of many original complexes, thus "playing
back" the original experiences (including the very
important emotional reactions to the original experiences)
producing William James’ “blooming, buzzing, confusion.”
Man is not a machine. And the mind is not a computer.
The ERR model stands in contrast to the popular cognitive science or “computational” model of a mind as a digital computer with a "central processor" or even many "parallel processors." No algorithms or stored programs are needed for the ERR model. There is nothing comparable to the addresses and data buses used to store and retrieve information in a digital computer.
The mind is a biological information processor.