Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

An argument is developed to show that explanations ofbiological and physical systems can be unified via the secondlaw of thermodynamics (SLT). The SLT’s influence on theevolutionary history of life at the scale of the global Earthsystem justifies reunifying phenomena—i.e., mind andmatter—whose separation dates back to Modern Westernphilosophy and still influences contemporary scientificinvestigations. From this perspective it appears that thenecessity of ever-increasing entropy in nature may constrainthe organization and behavior of living organisms andcognitive processes. Via an example of explaining memory atthe scale of the brain-body-environment system, werecommend understanding cognition with respect to its role inincreasing entropy in nature. This framework may lead to afruitful understanding of cognition by appealing to thenecessity of physical laws.