The cognitive homunculus: do tunable languages-of-thought convey adaptive advantage?

TL;DR

This paper explores whether tunable language-of-thought systems, which adapt to changing contexts, can offer organisms a significant long-term adaptive advantage by providing a flexible internal response mechanism.

Contribution

It extends the concept of the cognitive homunculus beyond fixed language models to tunable, context-sensitive systems that may enhance adaptive capabilities.

Findings

Tunable language-of-thought systems can generate diverse responses.

Adaptive systems may improve organism's detection of deviations.

Flexible internal models could confer evolutionary advantages.

Abstract

We reexamine the generalized cognitive homunculus, an organism's internalized image of its physiological, psychological, and social state, which, when properly adjusted, can quickly detect subtle deviations from a reference configuration. We particularly seek to extend the treatment beyond 'language-of-thought' systems modeled as ergodic information sources. Such extension would generate an exceedingly rich response repertoire, not limited by fixed patterns of grammar and syntax. Rather, these would themselves be tunable according to the changing short-term contextual demands faced by the organism, possibly providing significant long-term adaptive advantage.