Chinese Culture and Cognitive Science

Abstract In the civilizations of the axial age, Chinese and Western cultures gave birth to different scientific traditions—the image sciences and the natural sciences—within the knowledge frameworks of the union of man and nature and of the subject–object dichotomy respectively. Therefore, there are inevitably insurmountable barriers to explaining the differences between Chinese and Western cultures in terms of a natural science concerned with “things.” However, human nature is universal, and it is possible to make direct comparisons and interpretations of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures in terms of the cognitive sciences dealing with the mind. One important way to compare and interpret Chinese culture and cognitive science is the mutual interpretation of Chinese and Western cultures. In view of this, we have integrated enactive cognition (the frontier of cognitive science) and the free energy principle to propose the predictive mind model of enactive cognition and have used this mutual interpretation to study the two cultures using this model of cognitive science as a truly unified cross-cultural paradigm for cognitive science. First, the theory of enaction embedded in Chinese culture is actually closely related to enactive cognition, the frontier of Western cognitive science. Laozi’s theory of universal enaction (cosmology) shows that Chinese culture has an ancient theory of enaction. He firmly planted in the minds of Chinese people a way of thinking dealing with union of man and nature. Western enactive cognition, as a modern theory, advocates continuity of life and mind and emphasizes that life is both autopoietic and cognitive, which is actually a scientific cognitive expression of the Chinese cultural idea of the harmony of man and nature. This is actually a scientific cognitive expression of Chinese culture’s idea of the harmony of man and nature. Second, the qi in Chinese culture is similar to the free energy in Western cognitive science. In terms of concept definition, qi is a mixture of matter, function and principles (information), while free energy is the synthesis of energy and information. From the point of view of the mode of operation, qi is the contradictory harmony between yin and yang, while free energy is the unity of top-down and bottom-up approaches. In terms of kinetic purpose, the kinetic purpose of qi is the doctrine of benevolence, while the kinetic purpose of free energy has gradually changed from representation of nature to construction of meaning. Through comparison and interpretation, we find that enactive cognition is closely related to Chinese culture on the cognitive science route, in what will be a practical path for the rejuvenation of Chinese culture. In addition, through the association of qi in Chinese culture and free energy in Western cognitive science, Chinese and Western cultures can be expected to be truly connected through cognitive science.