Abstract

The objective of this paper is to discuss the relationship between the functional properties and information-processing modes of the human brain and the evolution of scientific thought. Science has emerged as a tool to carry out predictive operations that exceed the accuracy, temporal scale, and intrinsic operational limitations of the human brain. Yet the scientific method unavoidably reflects some fundamental characteristics of the information-acquisition and -analysis modes of the brain, which impose a priori boundary conditions upon how science can develop and how the physical universe can be “understood.” A brief description of physical and biological interactions is given, with emphasis on the defining role played by the concept of information. Current views on the information-processing and information-generating mechanisms of the human brain are briefly reviewed. It is shown how some particular features of superstition, natural philosophy, physical thought, and intuition can be linked to certain characteristic information-processing modes of the brain. A discussion is given of how greatly expanded knowledge of brain functions might affect the future of science and technology