A Brain for Innovation, by Min W. Jung (introduction)
INTRODUCTION
Humans are extraordinary animals. As the only known species that can understand the concept of their own existence, humans have long pondered their place in the world and their relationship to the universe. These inquiries have resulted in some of the most significant advances in science, philosophy, and spirituality. Our extraordinary capacity for introspection and self-reflection distinguishes us from all other living species on the planet. Despite our exceptionality, we share with other living organisms the same ultimate goal: the survival and perpetuation of our species.
Which animals best achieve the ultimate biological goal? Without a doubt, insects; they are currently the most adapted animals on earth. Scientists estimate their number to be about ten quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000), and together they weigh seventy times more than all humans combined. Their diversity is also amazing. There are about 1 million known insect species, and this amounts to around 90 percent of all known animal species and more than 50 percent of all known life species. Moreover, the number of unknown insect species is estimated to be between 2 and 10 million (5.5 million on average). It is not surprising that there exists a discipline, entomology, dedicated to studying insects: insects are the most dominant animals on earth in terms of number, mass, and diversity. Scientists predict that insects will survive tenaciously when many other animal species, including humans, become extinct in the distant future. Biologically, it is obvious that humans are not the most successful animal species on earth.
Even though we are not currently the most successful animals on earth, we are perhaps the most successful large vertebrate animals. We have managed to thrive in a wide range of environments on every continent, and our total weight now far exceeds that of all wild land vertebrate animals. More importantly, we are the only animals that have advanced technologies, created sophisticated cultures, established large societies, and, remarkably, gained power to affect and shape our environment in ways that no other animal has.
These achievements would not have been possible without our capacity for innovation. We tend to try new things to improve our futures. The accumulation of innovations big and small throughout history has eventually enabled us to build civilizations on a global scale. We even have established a social system to promote innovations—the patent laws. In this respect, humans may be regarded as innovative animals or Homo innovaticus.
Figure 0.1 shows advances in technology along with the growth of the world’s population since the dawn of agriculture. The population size grew exponentially, and technological changes accelerated at an astonishing rate during the last two centuries. The major technological events shown represent only a minute fraction of the scientific and technological advances mankind has achieved during the last two hundred years.
Why are we so innovative? Perhaps our brains differ from those of other animals. But how? This is the main topic of this book. Innovation requires a new insight, and a critical factor for new insights is the capability for imagination. We come up with new technologies, bits of knowledge, ideas, and art by combining existing ones in new ways using our imagination. Albert Einstein referred to the power of imagination this way: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” A question arises then as to whether the capability for imagination is unique to humans. The answer to this question is clear: “Definitely not.” Imagination is far from being a unique human mental faculty. Psychological, neuroscientific, and animal behavioral studies have provided converging evidence that animals are capable of imagination. In particular, neuroscientific research in the last two decades has revealed neural activity seemingly related to imagination.
What then is the unique human mental faculty that enabled innovation throughout human history? Imagination promotes but does not guarantee innovation. The scope of imagination is constrained by one’s cognitive capacity. Without a sufficiently high cognitive capacity, the content of one’s imagination would be far from being innovative. In particular, the capacity
for high-level abstraction is essential for innovations involving conceptual knowledge such as those shown in figure 0.1. In other words, humans are particularly innovative because they have the unique capacity to imagine freely using high-level abstract concepts such as imaginary numbers, vectors, gravity, atoms, genes, mutations, algorithms, beauty, humanism, free will, liberty, and social justice.
I by no means argue that abstract thinking is a unique human mental faculty. It is well known that other animals, especially primates, are capable of abstract thinking. However, no animals come close to humans in terms of the level of abstraction. Humans are superb at forming and manipulating high-level abstract concepts and imagining freely using them. A prime example of this capability is language. Only humans possess a true capability for language with specialized brain regions dedicated to language processing. Innovations such as those shown in figure 0.1 would have not been possible
FIGURE 0.1. Population growth and major technological events. Figure reproduced with permission from Robert W. Fogel, “Catching up with the Economy,” American Economic Review 89, no. 1 (1999): 2 (copyright American Economic Association).
without the unique human capacity for imagination using high-level abstract concepts. Thus, of a diverse array of advanced mental faculties, one critical element for innovation would be the capacity to imagine freely using highlevel abstract concepts.
Our current understanding of the brain mechanisms that allow this is limited. Nevertheless, we have a sufficiently large body of discoveries from several different disciplines, neuroscience in particular, to allow discussion of the specific neural processes underlying this great human faculty. Neuroscience has traditionally focused on how the brain processes and stores external sensory information and controls behavior using this information. In contrast, the neural processes underlying internal thinking and self-generated thought, especially those related to imagination and creativity, have received less attention. This trend is changing because of discoveries such as the existence of a neural system that is particularly active when we are engaged in internal thinking such as daydreaming and envisioning futures; that this neural system interacts dynamically with other neural systems during creative thinking; that the hippocampus, already known to play a crucial role in encoding new memories, also plays an important role in imagination; and neuronal activity identified in animal studies that is seemingly related to imagining future episodes. These discoveries allow us to glimpse into the neural processes that encompass internal mentation, imagination, creative thinking, and innovation.
This book will delve into modern neuroscientific research by examining various discoveries that have provided important insights into the neural mechanisms underlying imagination and high-level abstraction. I intend to take this matter down to the level of neural circuit operation wherever possible rather than merely assuming some brain region or homunculus is doing the job. Groundbreaking discoveries in the last two decades centered around the hippocampus have enabled us to explain the process of imagining the future at the level of neural circuits. Even though we have less understanding of the neural basis of high-level abstraction, some clues allow us to conjecture about the neural network processes that underpin highlevel abstraction. Additionally, I will highlight related works in psychology, anthropology, and artificial intelligence. In doing so, I will try to explain a unique faculty of Homo sapiens, the capacity for innovation, in terms of the organization and functioning of neural systems and circuits.
This book has four sections. The role of the hippocampus in imagination is covered in part 1 (chapters 1–3). The hippocampal neural circuit
processes underlying imagination are examined in part 2 (chapters 4–7). Part 3 (chapters 8–11) moves to the neural basis of high-level abstraction in humans. Part 4 (chapters 12–14) takes us beyond imagination to help us understand creativity and how humans might use the capacity for innovation in the future.
Note that many significant discoveries that are pertinent to the book’s numerous sections have been omitted. This book aims to bring together disparate findings in neuroscience and related fields in order to explain the neural basis of innovation in a concise manner. Inevitably, topics and findings are handled in a highly selective manner. There is a huge amount of scientific literature available, and many sources are beyond the scope of this book. Also note that this book’s writing style differs substantially from that of scientific monographs. Even though I delve deep into modern neuroscientific research, I intend to present a concise narrative to an intelligent reader who has no expert knowledge of neuroscience.
I hope that this book will help you gain a better understanding of the neural processes that underlie one of the most fascinating and essential aspects of human nature: our capacity for innovation.
A BRAIN FOR INNOVATION
“Although memory, imagination, and planning are discrete concepts, this insightful book by Min W. Jung, an internationally respected researcher, demonstrates that the brain does not make such distinctions. Written in delightful prose, this volume will spark interest for the specialist and other curious minds alike.”
—György
Buzsáki, author of Rhythms of the Brain and The Brain from Inside Out
“In this wide-ranging book, Jung conveys many of the complexities of modern cognitive neuroscience in an accessible way for readers with minimal scientific background. Although his particular focus is on how the human brain became so good at innovation, his broad interests make this book a treat.”
—Lynn Nadel, Regents Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Arizona
“A Brain for Innovation is a highly approachable account of how the human brain’s ability to imagine with abstract concepts has been applied to demystify this same ability. After entertaining us with his skillful crisscrossing of neuroscience, AI, and philosophy, Jung also reminds us that imagination is a double-edged sword and must be used cautiously to save our future.”
—Daeyeol Lee, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
