Noogenesis

Term origin

Noogenesis was first mentioned in the posthumously published in 1955 book The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, an anthropologist and philosopher, in a few places:

"With and within the crisis of reflection, the next term in the series manifests itself. Psychogenesis has led to man. Now it effaces itself, relieved or absorbed by another and a higher function—the engendering and subsequent development of the mind, in one word noogenesis. When for the first time in a living creature instinct perceived itself in its own mirror, the whole world took a pace forward." "There is only one way in which our minds can integrate into a coherent picture of noogenesis these two essential properties of the autonomous centre of all centres, and that is to resume and complement our Principle of Emergence." "The idea is that of noogenesis ascending irreversibly towards Omega through the strictly limited cycle of a geogenesis." "To make room for thought in the world, I have needed to ' interiorise ' matter : to imagine an energetics of the mind; to conceive a noogenesis rising upstream against the flow of entropy ; to provide evolution with a direction, a line of advance and critical points..." - "Omega point".

The lack of any kind of definition of the term has led to a variety of interpretations reflected in the book, including "the contemporary period of evolution on Earth, signified by transformation of biosphere onto the sphere of intelligence - noosphere", "evolution run by human mind" etc. The most widespread interpretation is thought to be "the emergence of mind, which follows geogenesis, biogenesis and anthropogenesis, forming a new sphere on Earth – noosphere."

Modern understanding

"In 2005 Eryomin in the monograph proposed new concept of noogenesis in understanding the evolution of intellectual systems», "concepts of intellectual systems, information logistics, information speed, intellectual energy, intellectual potential, - consolidated into a theory of the intellect.", with «combines the biophysical parameters of intellectual energy – the amount of information, its acceleration (frequency, speed) and the distance it’s being sent – into a formula». According the new concept - proposed "hypothesis continue prognostic progressive evolution of the species Homo sapiens", «the analogy between the human brain with the enormous amount of neural cells firing at the same time and a similarly functioning human society».

"A new understanding of the term "noogenesis" as an evolution of the intellect was proposed by Alexey Eryomin. A hypothesis based on recapitulation theory links the evolution of the human brain to the development of human civilization. The parallel between the amount of people living on Earth and the amount of neurons becomes more and more obvious leading us to viewing global intelligence as an analogy for human brain. All of the people living on this planet have undoubtedly inherited the amazing cultural treasures of the past, be it production, social and intellectual ones. We are genetically hardwired to be a sort of "live RAM" of the global intellectual system. Alexey Eryomin suggests that humanity is moving towards a unified self-contained informational and intellectual system. His research has shown the probability of Super Intellect realizing itself as Global Intelligence on Earth. We could get closer to understanding the most profound patterns and laws of the Universe if these kinds of research were given enough attention. Also, the resemblance between the individual human development and such of the whole human race has to be explored further if we are to face some of the threats of the future».

Therefore, generalizing and summarizing:

"Noogenesis - the expansion process in space and development in time (evolution) of intelligent systems (intelligent matter). Noogenesis represents a set of natural, interconnected, characterized by a certain temporal sequence of structural and functional transformations of the entire hierarchy and set of interacting among themselves on the basic structures and processes ranging from the formation and separation of the rational system to the present (the phylogenesis of the nervous systems of organisms; the evolution of humanity as autonomous intelligent systems) or death (in the course of ontogenesis of the human brain)".

Interdisciplinary nature

The term "noogenesis" can be used in a variety of fields i.e. medicine, biophysics, semiotics, mathematics, information technology, psychology etc. thus making it a truly cross-disciplinary one. In astrobiology noogenesis concerns the origin of intelligent life and more specifically technological civilizations capable of communicating with humans and or traveling to Earth. The lack of evidence for the existence of such extraterrestrial life creates the Fermi paradox.

To the parameters of the phenomenon "noo", "intellectus"

The emergence of the human mind is considered to be one of the five fundamental phenomenons of emergent evolution. To understand the mind, necessary to determine what the reasonable person's thinking differs from other thinking beings. Such differences include the ability to generate calculations, to combine dissimilar concepts, to use mental symbols, to think abstractly. The knowledge of the phenomenon of intelligent systems - the emergence of reason (noogenesis) boils down to:

Several published works which do not employ the term "noogenesis", however, address some patterns in the emergence and functioning of the human intelligence: working memory capacity ≥ 7, ability to predict, prognosis, hierarchical (6 layers neurons) system of information analysis, consciousness, memory, generated and consumed information properties etc. They also set the limits of several physiological aspects of human intelligence.

Aspects of evolution "sapiens"

Historical evolutionary development and emergence of H.sapiens as species, include emergence of such concepts as anthropogenesis, phylogenesis, morphogenesis, cephalization, systemogenesis , cognition systems autonomy.

On the other hand, development of an individual’s intellect deals with concepts of embryogenesis, ontogenesis, morphogenesis, neurogenesis, higher nervous function of I.P.Pavlov and his philosophy of mind. Despite the fact that the morphofunctional maturity is usually reached by the age of 13, the definitive functioning of the brain structures is not complete until about 16–17 years of age.

The future of intelligence

Bioinformatics, genetic engineering, noopharmacology, cognitive load, brain stimulation, the efficient use of altered states of consciousness, use of non-human cognition, information technology (IT), artificial intelligence (AI) are all believed to be effective methods of intelligence advancement.

Issues and further research prospects

The development of the human brain, perception, cognition, memory and neuroplasticity are unsolved problems in neuroscience. Several megaprojects are being carried out in the American BRAIN Initiative and the European Human Brain Project in attempt to better our understanding of the brain's functionality along with the intention to develop human cognitive performance in the future with artificial intelligence, informational, communication and cognitive technology.