Information Normalization Theory
Alastair Clarke

Clarke’s latest theory is a significant departure from pattern recognition. Adopting a contrary stance, a convincing case is made for the foundation of humour being located in the brain’s responses to misinformation, whether communicated by wilful deception or innocent error.

Because human beings are more dependent on instruction and cultural inheritance for their behaviour than any other species, the nature and reliability of the information the individual receives radically affects their chances of survival. In order to compensate for that which is either intentionally or inadvertently misleading to the brain, humour encourages a valuable circumspection by rewarding the normalization of dubious data from deceptive or confusing to informative and useful.

Information Normalization Theory examines the evolutionary basis for such a case and then suggests a schematic neurological mechanism by which the system could operate, whereby the brain identifies and then neutralizes certain forms of confusion that might otherwise lead to potentially damaging instances of misfiling or misconception.

Clarke has produced this theory as a forerunner to his next full-length book Rewarding Repetition, in which the relative merits of anomaly and normalization are pitted against those of pattern recognition. First Steps is a concise paper exploring its central principles and will shortly be available as a free download from this site. A more substantial text, A Closer Look At Information Normalization Theory, will be published in due course and made available in paperback and eBook formats. It will also be included for discussion purposes in Rewarding Repetition.

Future publications in the Pattern Recognition Theory Series