Definition
Scale-Free Cognition
Scale-Free Cognition is a framework proposed by Michael Levin that redefines cognition not as a complex function exclusive to brains, but as a fundamental, scalable property of all goal-directed systems.
Classically, we view cognition as a binary property: humans have it, rocks don’t, and animals are somewhere in between depending on their brain size.
Scale-Free Cognition argues that cognition is a continuum rooted in cybernetics and control theory. Formally, a system S exhibits cognition if it possesses:
- A global state: a preferred configuration in its state space
- Senors: to measure its current state
- Effectors: to alter its state
- Competency: the ability to minimise the error between goal and current state despite external perturbations