Mind-Dependence. The Past in the Grip of the Present |
| |
Authors: | Roberta Patalano |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Economic Studies, Università Parthenope, Naples, Italy;(2) Luiss Guido Carli, Roma, Italy |
| |
Abstract: | Synopsis Recent developments in economic literature have pointed out that path-dependence has a cognitive dimension. The paper shows
how this result may be analyzed in more depth, by making explicit the links between the properties of path-dependent processes
in economics and the functioning of the mind. Through the investigation of memory mechanisms, we explain why human beings
might be considered as complex systems whose growth follows a stochastic and non-ergodic dynamic.
Our main claim is that the concept of path-dependence, as commonly interpreted, does not take the reconstructive nature which
characterizes human memory into full account. When such nature is acknowledged, the relevance of the mind in orientating individual
attitude toward the past is extended and seems to be more important than discussed in the traditional literature. To specifically
clarify the active role played by the human mind in the continuous process of revising past experiences and their influence
on current outcomes, we introduce the concept of mind-dependence. Among the most relevant implications for economic theory,
mind-dependence extends the meaning of lock-in and allows for the definition of new devices to escape trapping states.
|
| |
Keywords: | cognitive economics economic dynamic endogenous change history lock-in human memory mind neuroeconomics path-dependence |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|