with capabilities that obviously separate us in degree of function or form of function from our mammalian predecessors, would it be art, mathematics, religion or science. It is natural to look for capabilities underlying those forms of expression in the mechanisms of the neocortex. Various types of symbolic manipulation associated with their expression in speech and other human-specific communications are part of the neocortex contribution to human cognition. We will later consider more fully the question of how this contribution relates to that of the other parts of the triune brain.

Causation is the establishment of symbolic intermediaries in the observation of correlation. Observable early in infancy, causality is sought for, which is equivalent to saying that a satisfying chemical balance in the brain accompanies the establishment of cause. One of the evolutionary advantages of causality is planning. Causality can be recognized directly (“He fell because someone pushed him.”) or indirectly (“He fell, and I assume that someone pushed him.”). Causes can also be unobservable (“He fell, and I didn’t observe anyone, so a spirit may have pushed him.”). As for other functions, the establishment of unobservable causes is of survival benefit if it leads to better fitness (“I avoid the spirit, and I don’t fall.”). The build-up of a causal chain can lead humans to gods, and then to God. If the causal chain is invalid, it can take us over the precipice.

Just as elementary causes (spirits) may offer a better theory for survival, more elaborate, unobservable causes can lead to yet other theories that are more complex. Some would consider, in resonance with the thesis of René Girard developed in several books starting with Violence and the Sacred, that monotheistic theories, judged by their historical expansion, have expressed a particular fitness in allowing societies to build and expand in our most recent history. The build-up of causation is based on imitation, itself apparently implemented with mirror neurons, as described by Giacomo Rizzolati, Leonardo Fogassi and Vittorio Gallese Mirrors in the Mind Scientific American article. Computers use state machines for communication in the same way. State machines are shared by two communicating computers. A state machine makes predictions based on historical performance, which is saying that it represents a causal model or develops a theory on the behavior of the state machine with which it is communicating. This forms a component of the causal chain, complemented by metaphoric capabilities that we review in some detail later in this chapter.

Operating Systems

The evolutionary progression of computers over the first half-century or so of their electronic incarnation has been replete with competitive interplay among a variety of software architectures. We have made the point that identifying the analogue of computer systems relative to the human mind is not quite as simple as differentiating computer hardware from software. When the model of social ecosystems is mapped onto computer systems and their networks, the trust and policy infrastructures cross the boundaries between hardware and software. A somewhat similar effect is noted within the brain, where higher cognitive functions are spread across broad regions. That said, an interesting decomposition to recognize and attempt to understand, at least in overview, is that of the dichotomy within computer software between operating systems and applications.

Historically, computers have tended to be general-purpose tools. A specific computer platform might be expected to support work on a number of problems, perhaps sequentially or perhaps in parallel. It might be expected to work on these problems for a single person, or it might be expected to work on behalf of many different people. Moreover, it might be expected to work on

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