We live in a virtual game

---

Enrico Bignetti

University of Parma, Italy

: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry

Abstract

---

A collective cognitive bias of the people is to feel responsible of the so-called â??voluntaryâ? actions; though, many evidences demonstrate that free-will (FW) is an illusion of the mind. Then, who is cont rolling our actions in the place of our will and is that bias somehow useful for cognition? The answers to them are given by â??The Bignetti Modelâ? (TBM) (references 1-22): Our intelligence is virtual (VI) for several reasons: Sensory organs send us fictitious and limited perceptions of the world around us. Several evidences demonstrate that Free will (FW) is an illusion of the mind; then, we cannot decide our actions at will. Moreover, the awareness (feed-back) of our actions comes with few hundreds msecs delay with respect to the execution; then, we delude to have decided them, precisely at that time, thanks to FW (FW illusion plays a crucial role in cog nition). Our brain exhibits computational processes based on a probabilistic-deterministic mechanism. Our mind exhibits a physiological dual state: the Unconscious Mind (UM) (with a biochemical/biophy sical language) and the Conscious Mind (CM) (with a spoken language). In synthesis, the two raison dâ??etre of â??The Hard Question of Consciousnessâ? (THQOC) are, on the one hand, that an obvious conflict of interest impedes the objective/scientific definition of consciousness and, on the other hand, that the reciprocal language translation between UM and CM remains a mystery. Our life is a virtual game in which UM and CM play the roles of the Avatar (A) and of the Player (P), respectively, both ensuring us the necessary survival and resilience against the per turbing stimuli. In the absence of FW, VI cannot exhi bit a predictive mind; though, it carries out proactive activities compatible with â??Autopoiesisâ?, typical of cognitive systems (Maturana and Varela, 1980). The mechanism of VI (UM and CM) is sustained by a ther modynamically-driven computational mechanism based on the â??Reinforcement Learningâ?, typical of the virtual games. To this aim, UM (Avatar) and CM (Player) cooperate: A reacts to perturbing stimuli; while, a-posteriori, P learns from Aâ??s mistake how to adjust future reactions. Conclusions: TBM does not describe a schizophrenic, dualistic description of our mind; in fact, UM and CM are different physiological activities of the same mind, in continuous and with a unique cognitive aim. The â??reinforcement learningâ?, operating during our virtual life, is compatible with the cause-effect law; According to TBM, first, the removal of a perturbing stimulus is Aâ??s task; then, with a delay due to feed back signals, the outcome of this task is experienced by P. So, the conclusion is that, trial after trial, the protocol of Aâ??s action will progressively ameliorate, thanks to the experience up-dating (in agreement with Bayesian theory). It should be noted that Pâ??s awareness of the action is delayed with respect to Aâ??s action, so P deludes to be him the FW-possessing author of the action in place of A. Due to THQOC, VI doesnâ??t know how to clone its cognitive ability in ar t ificial systems (see, for instance AI), mainly because the mechanism of cross-dialoguing between UM and CM is mysterious. A scientist can elaborate TBM that is based on FW illusion, by using a 3rd-person, ob jective and Self-detached perspective; conversely, an agent who is reacting against a perturbing stimulus, is reasoning by typically using a 1st-person, subjecti ve and Self-oriented perspective in which FW â??mustâ? exist. Both the 1st- and the 3rd-perspective can exist in one person but not at the same time.

Biography

---

Enrico Bignetti born in Brescia, Italy (1949). He completed Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Parma (1974). He worked as an Ass. Prof. of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1985-) c/o Department of Veteri nary Medicine, Parma. He has been the Director of the Inst. of Mol. Biol. and Veterinary Biochemistry (1987-1998). He retired in 2017. His Academic interests: Biochemistry, Neurophysiology, Biophysics, Cognitive Sciences. And his extra academic interests are Yoga Teacher; Conceptual Artist.