The Biology of Mathematical Knowledge

2002

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It is suggested that the left hemispheric neurons and the magnocellular visual system are specialized in tasks requiring a relatively small number of large neurons having a fast reaction time due to a high firing rate or many dendritic synapses of the same neuron which are activated simultaneously. On the other hand the right hemispheric neurons and the neurons of the parvocellular visual system are specialized in tasks requiring a relatively larger number of short term memory (STM) Hebbian engrams (neural networks). This larger number of engrams is achieved by a combination of two strategies. The first is evolving a larger number of neurons, which may be smaller and have a lower firing rate. The second is evolving longer and more branching axons and thus producing more engrams, including engrams comprising neurons located at cortical areas distant from each other. This model explains why verbal functions of the brain are related to the left hemisphere, and the division of semantic tasks between the left hemisphere and the right one. This explanation is extended to other cognitive functions like visual search, ontological cognition, the detection of temporal order, and the dual cognitive interpretation of the perceived physical phenomena.

Section: Visual Search Semantical Access the Cerebral Hemispheres And Ontologysupporting

confidence: 88%

Temporal and simultaneous processing in the brain: a possible cellular basis of cognition

2002

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“…Another experiment which also was conducted with students of the course on philosophy of mathematics is described in Fidelman (1990). The second part of the course on philosophy of mathematics included a presentation of two schools, formalism and logicism, which have metaphysical-realistic ontological approaches.…”

Section: Initial Experimental Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The conjecture that space and time are subjective and originate from the hemispheric mechanisms was tested experimentally by the same method as the previous two experiments. This experiment is described in Fidelman (1990) and is discussed in Fidelman (1987Fidelman ( , 1988.…”

Section: The Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been suggested in Fidelman (1985Fidelman ( , 1987Fidelman ( , 1988Fidelman ( , 1989Fidelman ( , 1990Fidelman ( , 1991Fidelman ( , 1994Fidelman ( , 1995 that there is relation between the cerebral hemispheres and the Platonic and nominalist ontologies on the one hand, and the Kantian modes of perception on the other. This work is a rewritten, updated and extended version of Fidelman (1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ontological and Kantian modes of perceiving experience Hemispheric basis for physical cognition

2000

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It is suggested that nominalism and Platonism are modes of perceiving experience in the Kantian sense. These two modes, like the temporal and the spatial Kantian modes of perceiving experience, are related to the left and right cerebral hemispheres respectively. Learning experiments showing the relation of all these four modes of perceiving experience to the hemispheres are described. It is discussed that the nominalist and Platonic modes of perceiving experience are subjective as well as the Kantian modes, time and space. Some relation of this discussion to the collapse of the wave function in quantum mechanics is considered. A phenomenon of a one‐and‐a‐half hour cycle in hemispheric activity, which may have implications to the designing of examinations, is described.

“…Another experiment was performed with the same students (Fidelman, 1990b). In this experiment the students had to prefer between logicism, which is a Platonic foundational approach to mathematics, and formalism, which is a nominalist foundational approach to mathematics.…”

Section: Ontology and The Hemispheric Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive and neuropsychological basis for quantum mechanics

2004

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It was suggested by Fidelman that Kantian ideas, namely, actual Infinity, the cosmos, a reason for the cosmos and consciousness, involve a cognitive conflict. This cognitive conflict is caused by a competition between the left‐ and right‐hemispheric cerebral mechanisms, and it causes us to feel that we encounter a paradox. It is suggested in this study that quantum particles too are Kantian ideas. According to Kant the logic of experience does not necessarily apply to Kantian ideas, which are not part of experience. Thus, Kant explained the paradoxes related to them. It is suggested that the cognitive paradoxes related to quantum particles are also related to a conflict between the hemispheric mechanisms.