AI Summary
- Under minimal thermodynamic and control-theoretic assumptions, metabolic constraints necessitate generative cognition.
- Cognition is formalised as a resource-bounded controller of probability flows, with metabolic budgets imposing path-space divergence constraints.
- Inference is a physically instantiated process governed by metabolic regulation; cognitive models must be grounded in nonequilibrium thermodynamics and dynamical systems.
Behav Brain Sci. 2026 Oct 2;49:e464. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X26106190.
ABSTRACT
We argue that under minimal thermodynamic and control-theoretic assumptions, metabolic constraints imply generative cognition. We formalize cognition as a resource-bounded controller of probability flows, where metabolic budgets define path-space divergence constraints. This reframes inference as a physically instantiated process governed by metabolic regulation, implying that progress in the cognitive sciences requires grounding cognitive models in nonequilibrium thermodynamics and dynamical systems.
PMID:42825752 | DOI:10.1017/S0140525X26106190
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