  This paper states the case for applying the conceptual and analytic tools
associated with the study of entropy in physical systems to cognition, focusing
on creative cognition. It is proposed that minds modify their contents and
adapt to their environments to minimize psychological entropy:
arousal-provoking uncertainty, which can be experienced negatively as anxiety,
or positively as a wellspring for creativity (or both). Thus, intrinsically
motivated creativity begins with detection of high psychological entropy
material (e.g., a question or inconsistency), which provokes uncertainty and is
arousal-inducing. This material is recursively considering from new contexts
until it is sufficiently restructured that arousal dissipates and entropy
reaches an acceptable level. Restructuring involves neural synchrony and
dynamic binding, and may be facilitated by temporarily shifting to a more
associative mode of thought. The creative outcome may similarly induce
restructuring in others, and thereby contribute to the cultural evolution of
more nuanced understandings. Thus, the concept of entropy could play a unifying
role in cognitive science as a driver of thought and action, and in cultural
studies as the driver of the creative innovations that fuel cultural evolution.
The paper concludes with an invitation for cross-disciplinary exploration of
this potential new arena of entropy studies.
