The Blueprint of the Mind: Exploring the Architecture of Intelligence

8 min readJun 17, 2023

Have you ever wondered what makes us intelligent? What is the architecture of our intelligence that allows us to think, learn, and make decisions? How does this structure change our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us? In this article, I will share the essential structure (architecture) of intelligence that I have analyzed up to this point.

<Overview> In this article, we explore the central architecture that enables our intelligence. We understand the world and make decisions based on events and concepts stored in long-term memory, as well as our ongoing realities. This body of information and processes shapes our self-image and worldview, and changes in these constructs consequently affect our behaviors and perceptions. We discuss the essential structure of intelligence across three main sections in this article. In the first part, we delve into things stored in long-term memory, what we refer to as the static cognitive space. The second part investigates ongoing elements or the dynamic cognitive space. Finally, in the third part, we elaborate on how these aspects interact and impact our consciousness and actions. This article is intended to serve as a first step in understanding the blueprint of our minds, and a guide on your journey to explore the architecture of intelligence.

1. Stored Things in long-term memory (Static Cognitive Space)

1.1. Stored Events

Events experienced in the past are stored in long-term memory. They are stored additively.

1.2. Constructed Concepts

These are things learned from past experiences and are stored in an overwriting manner. These include the following:

a) Entities

Static existences or concepts. They hold higher-level abstract concepts (ideas, etc.).

b) Patterns

Temporal changes, spatial shapes, etc. They hold higher-level abstract concepts (laws, etc.).

c) Relationships

The relationships between entities or patterns, or between entities and patterns. This includes concepts such as hierarchies, containment relationships, or which patterns an entity possesses. Relationships themselves also possess higher-level concepts.

d) Situations

A collection in which entities, patterns, and relationships with strong relevance have aggregated. Situations themselves also hold higher-level concepts. Situations can change the relationships between entities and patterns.

Within constructed concepts, there are self-images and worldviews. However, there are also connections between self-images and worldviews due to situations, relationships, and patterns. These are not strictly separate and are defined as terms for the purpose of explanation.

Self-Image

Entities and patterns that are recognized as oneself, and their relationships. This also includes associations with situations.

Worldview

Everything outside of the self-image.

2. Things in progress (Dynamic Cognitive Space)

2.1 Recalled Reality

These are recognized as reality by the brain using the following input information and through cognition, judgment, and prediction.

<Input Information>

Perception: Neural stimulation from the outside world and the body.
Constructed concepts: As mentioned above (see section 1.2 )
Stored events: As mentioned above (see section 1.1)

<Basic Processes>

Cognition: Recognizing entities and relationships.
Judgment: Recognizing situations.
Prediction: Recognizing completions and predictive results using patterns, including past, future, and currently imperceptible things.
Assumption: If the recalled reality does not converge, assumptions are made in the missing link areas. If inconsistencies are corrected, the assumptions are recognized as reality.

<Process Combinations>

Convergence: Cognition, judgment, and prediction are conducted concurrently, repeating recognition, supplementation, and prediction while feeding back each other’s results, and continue to converge the recalled reality.
Revision: If there is a discrepancy between the perceived information and the recalled reality, feedback is provided to cognition, judgment, and prediction to continuously revise the recalled reality.
Recall: Necessary information for cognition, judgment, and recall is extracted from stored events and fed back to cognition, judgment, and recall.

3. Characteristics and Mechanisms

3.1 Convergence of the Future and Automated Action

The recalled reality has a spread not only to the past or future external to the present, but also to the outer periphery away from the center.

The current scene depends on whether it is familiar or predictable, leading to the following situations:

a) A well-familiar scene

Possesses a recalled reality that has widely converged towards the periphery.

b) Unfamiliar scene

The recalled reality only converges in a narrowed form around the present and the center.

c) Unpredictable scene

The area near the center also blurs without converging.

The convergence of the future means that one’s actions up to that convergence point are also determined, and are automatically determined and executed within the mechanism of the recalled reality (automatic action). Meanwhile, the recalled reality continues to converge the future, so automatic action can continue until an unexpected or difficult-to-predict scene arrives.

3.2 Handover from Automated to Conscious Action

While we are acting automatically according to the recalled reality, we can be said to be “unconscious.” Although we are actually awake and conscious, we don’t need to be particularly aware, so we remain in a subdued state.

Cases where consciousness comes to the forefront, i.e., where conscious action is necessary, can be thought of as the following three main categories.

Case 1) Breakdown of the Converged Future:

A situation where something irregular appears or happens and the converged future does not occur.

For instance, when you stumble on a stone while walking. At this time, your consciousness comes to the forefront to gather information and make a recovery plan.

This breakdown of the converged future leaves a lasting impression and is clearly appended to the remembered event. Additionally, the formed notion that one needs to be careful on this road next time, or that one should walk while watching one’s step, is updated. In this case, the update can be made with regret (negative) or reflection (positive).

Case 2) Difficulty in Converging the Future:

A case where the scene transitions from familiar to unfamiliar.

The future can no longer be converged to the extent that it has been previously, and consciousness comes into play. There are negative and positive policy options.

Attempts to return to the familiar situation. For example, turning back to the original path when you are about to approach an unfamiliar road.

Giving up on securing the breadth of future convergence by the recalled reality, and switching from automated to conscious action.

Case 3) Desire for the Future:

Starting from a desire to know about a future beyond the future automatically converged by automatic action, this is a case where one starts thinking about the future.

In this case, as it is something beyond the capacity of the recalled reality, the consciousness takes over and starts thinking about the future.

There are cases where one thinks out of anxiety based on negative feelings, and cases where one thinks out of hope or curiosity in a positive sense.

3.3 Formation of Self-Image

The self-image is constructed in the following three ways. The constructed self-image is overwritten and stored as part of the constructed concept.

Learned Self-Image (Experiential Automatic Construction): Formed through learning during the transition from automatic to conscious action.
Influenced Self-Image (Social Automatic Construction): Formed by influence through communication with others.
Developed Self-Image (Conscious Construction): Formed through self-thought, method determination, and decision-making.

The response when the will takes over, as seen in section 3.2 (for example, positive or negative), is determined according to the formed self-image. The result is then reflected in the learned self-image.

It’s also important that the formed self-image affects not only behavior but also the way we learn. For example, a negative self-image tends to result in regretful learning.

The self-image also changes depending on the situation. For instance, it can be positive in sports, but negative in human relationships. In addition, the self-image is also abstracted along with the abstraction of situations. It may be positive in some parts, but negative as a whole.

3.4 Free Will

It can be thought that free will can only be exercised in conscious action and conscious construction scenarios.

There are influences from the constructed self-image and others, but in scenarios of conscious action and conscious construction, there is room for free choice. The choice made by that free will is strongly reflected in the self-image, probably more strongly than usual learning.

Then, the self-image stored as a result of that choice repeatedly affects subsequent automatic actions and automatic constructions, and also affects the next scenarios of conscious action and conscious construction where free will can be exercised.

In this way, conscious action and conscious construction by free will accumulate to form a self-image, carve out the history of one’s life, and continue to affect the future.

3.5 Discussions

The organization up to this point represents a model of a fairly mature, superficial, singular intelligence.

In the Case of Immature or Deep Intelligence

Immature intelligence may lack some of the mechanisms or functions of these concepts. Also, the elements or mechanisms may not be clearly differentiated in the system.

The same can be said about the deeper parts of mature intelligence.

Immature or Deep Intelligence: The absence of functions or lack of differentiation can make it simple, quick, and efficient to operate. This is suitable for automatic actions and automatic constructions.
Mature Superficial Intelligence: Conscious action and conscious construction, which require the exercise of free will, require advanced functions and mechanisms to consciously predict what automatic predictions could not. Therefore, it is considered to be the strength of the mature superficial parts of the system.

In the Case of Multiple Intelligences

A single act or construction by free will repeatedly influences the future, and acts or constructions by free will occur many times. Therefore, free will forms a diverse and complex self-image.

In this sense, the self-image may also be an ecological system. If so, it becomes an object that can be analyzed with an ecological system architecture.

In this way, each individual has a diverse self-image. And the self-image influences each other in the group through social automatic construction.

Experiential automatic construction plays a role in integrating different self-images for each scene to form a shared self-image as an individual. On the other hand, social automatic construction plays a role in integrating the self-image within the group to form a shared self-image as a community.

This is considered to be the “thread” that spins society, similar to the shared reality that was recalled.

With this article, I believe we have been able to analyze the basic structure. By delving deeper into what I wrote in section 3.5, refining and reviewing it, we should be able to improve the sophistication of this model.

In particular, the visibility of the relationship between the architecture of the ecological system and the self-image was a significant achievement for me. There still seem to be interesting discoveries waiting to be made.