@article{Pattee_2015, title={The Physics of Symbols Evolved Before Consciousness}, volume={11}, url={https://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/498}, abstractNote={<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]-->The human brain appears to be the most complex structure for its size in the known universe. Consequently, studies of the brain have required many models and theories at many levels that involve disciplines from basic physics, to neurosciences, psychology and philosophy. For over 2000 years the two most controversial and unresolved models of brain phenomena involve what we call <em>free will</em> and <em>consciousness</em>. I argue that adequate models at all levels require epistemic <em>complementarity</em> – distinct necessary models that are not derivable or reducible to each other. The primitive irreducible complementarity at all levels is the <em>subject-object</em> distinction required by an <em>epistemic cut</em>. This complementarity first arises with self-replication where a <em>self</em>, the <em>subject</em>, must be distinguished from the <em>non-self</em>, the <em>object</em><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->}, number={2}, journal={Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy}, author={Pattee, Howard}, year={2015}, month={Oct.}, pages={269–277} }