Towards Topological Mechanisms Underlying Experience Acquisition and Transmission in the Human Brain

Abstract

Experience is a process of awareness and mastery of facts or events, gained through actual observation or second-hand knowledge. Recent findings reinforce the idea that a naturalized epistemological approach is needed to further advance our understanding of the nervous mechanisms underlying experience. This essay is an effort to build a coherent topological-based framework able to elucidate particular aspects of experience, e.g., how it is acquired by a single individual, transmitted to others and collectively stored in form of general ideas. Taking into account concepts from neuroscience, algebraic topology and Richard Avenarius' philosophical analytical approach, we provide a scheme which is cast in an empirically testable fashion. In particular, we emphasize the foremost role of variants of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem, which tells us that, when a pair of opposite (antipodal) points on a sphere are mapped onto a single point in Euclidean space, the projection provides a description of both antipodal points. These antipodes stand for nervous functions and activities of the brain correlated with the mechanisms of acquisition and transmission of experience.

When Einstein’s Relativity Meets Neuroscience

“…There is a possible solution for this objection. According to the recently tested framework involving the Borsuk-Ulam theorem, every brain surface projects to two matching surfaces on one dimension higher (Peters et al, 2017b;Tozzi and Peters, 2017). This means that, when evaluating the quantitative content of a thought, we need to assess it in terms of higher dimensions.…”

Projective mechanisms subtending real world phenomena wipe away cause effect relationships

“…BUT variants hold not just for convex structures such as the circumferences and spheres described by the classical theorem, but also for flat and concave ones, which better describe the intricate trajectories of real systems' dynamics (Sengupta et al, 2016). The dimensions described by BUT may not stand just for spatial ones (as in the case of circles and spheres), but also for abstract dimensions (Tozzi et al, 2017b): the crucial issue is that matching descriptions allow commensurability between (real or abstract) entities equipped with different (real of abstract) dimensions. Publications from far-flung scientific disciplines point towards the BUT as an universal rule for elusive physical and biological activities.…”

Richard Avenarius’ “Kritik Der Reinen Erfahrung” (Critique of Pure Experience): An English Summary

“…He includes no other standpoint than that where he stands. As the Greek philosopher, he stands in the turmoil of the market-place, not as buyer or seller, in order that he may just observe [16]. The next paragraphs explore the relationships among the tree members: the environment, the self and the human statements.…”