10 receive information about the world, body and reward signals
20 evaluate the current situation and possible actions
30 act
40 goto 10
Emotion results in step 20 when we judge situations and actions in the context as good or bad. In this step two subsystems cooperate:
1. a system for fast reaction - works best when there is no time to reason, or when the action is repetitive, or when available information is uncertain
2. a system for slow, reasoning based reaction - works when we can build a mental model and imagine possible outcomes, is especially necessary when we encounter novel situations and have the concepts necessary to reason about it
System 1 is based on instinct and system 2 is learned. They are both essential as they are specialised in different situations. Using system 2 all the time would be too expensive and probably impossible, we need to rely on instinct which in turn relies on evolution to be fine tuned.
Learning happens through the reward signal. We reevaluate situations and actions based on outcomes. Emotion is just a synonym for the value we assign to our current state with regard to our goals and needs.
Our goals include adapting to the environment in order to assure the integrity and necessities of life - the primary goal, then as secondary goals - being part of a social group, learning, mastery, conceiving children, curiosity and a few other instincts. We are born with this goal-program which is in turn evolved.
Yeah, this "perception-action cycle" has been well known and taught in neuroscience for a long time. What's new, at least since I studied it, is the anti-correlated tick-tock of these two key networks that seems to be happening. Amazing how similar to a game engine consciousness seems to be panning out.
