Why use quantum theory for cognition and decision? Some compelling reasons

Abstract

Why should you be interested in quantum theory applied to Cognition and decision? Perhaps you are a physicist who is curious whether or not quantum principles can be applied outside of physics. In fact, that is one purpose of this book. Perhaps you are a cognitive scientist who is interested in representing concepts by vectors in a multidimensional feature space. This is essentially the way quantum theory works too. Perhaps you are a decision scientist who is trying to understand how people make decisions under uncertainty. Quantum theory could provide some interesting new answers. Generally speaking, quantum theory is a new theory for constructing probabilistic and dynamic systems , and in this book we apply this new theory to topics in cognition and decision. Later in this chapter we will give some specific examples, but let us step back at this point and try to understand the more general principles that support a quantum approach to cognition and decision. Six reasons for a quantum approach to cognition and decision Quantum physics is arguably the most successful scientific theoretical achievement that humans have ever created. It was created to explain puzzling findings that were impossible to understand using the older classical physical theory, and it achieved this by introducing an entirely new set of revolutionary principles. The older classical physical theory is now seen as a special case of the more general quantum theory. In the process of creating quantum mechanics, physicists also created a new theory of probabilistic and dynamic systems that is more general than the previous classic theory (Pitowski, 1989).