information Article Thinking in Patterns and the Pattern of Human Thought as Contrasted with AI Data Processing Robert K. Logan 1, * ID and Marlie Tandoc 2 1 Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 St. George, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, Canada 2 Book and Media Studies, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, 60 St. George, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, Canada; marlie.tandoc@mail.utoronto.ca * Correspondence: logan@physics.utoronto.ca Received: 5 March 2018; Accepted: 5 April 2018; Published: 8 April 2018   Abstract: We propose that the ability of humans to identify and create patterns led to the unique aspects of human cognition and culture as a complex emergent dynamic system consisting of the following human traits: patterning, social organization beyond that of the nuclear family that emerged with the control of fire, rudimentary set theory or categorization and spoken language that co-emerged, the ability to deal with information overload, conceptualization, imagination, abductive reasoning, invention, art, religion, mathematics and science. These traits are interrelated as they all involve the ability to flexibly manipulate information from our environments via pattern restructuring. We argue that the human mind is the emergent product of a shift from external percept-based processing to a concept and language-based form of cognition based on patterning. In this article, we describe the evolution of human cognition and culture, describing the unique patterns of human thought and how we, humans, think in terms of patterns. Keywords: patterns; patterning; cognition; set theory; language; information; abductive reasoning 1. Introduction Humans both deal with information and engage in creative thinking, while computers only process data according to the instructions of their human programmers. We believe humans are capable of both recognizing and creating patterns, but computers are only capable of recognizing the type of patterns that they have been programmed to look for. We believe computers are deduction engines that are also capable of induction, as is the case when they succeeded at mastering chess or Go. They are not capable of abductive reasoning or creating a story, however, and hence there are limits to their creativity. Abductive reasoning is a form of logical inference using imagination, in which the simplest and most likely hypothesis is posited to explain observed phenomena (see Peirce [1]). The claims made in this opening paragraph are argued for in the lead paper of this special issue by Braga and Logan [2]. The purpose of this paper is to provide background on human cognition (and cognition in general) for the debate of human versus computer cognition. In Braga and Logan [2], the authors claim that the technological Singularity, the idea that through AI, certain computers will be able to create a level of intelligence greater than that of humans, is not possible because computers are not capable of abductive reasoning, imagination and creativity. We will argue in this article that patterning is an essential feature of human cognition and is a product of abductive reasoning and imagination, which are features that computers are not capable of. This article therefore supports the claim of Braga and Logan [2] that the hypothesis of the eventual emergence of the Singularity is not correct. We believe that ability to recognize and create patterns led to the unique aspects of human cognition and culture. This shift led to the co-emergence of inter-related traits, all characterized by Information 2018, 9, 83; doi:10.3390/info9040083 www.mdpi.com/journal/information