Echoes of the Prior: A Computational Phenomenology of Forgetting

2026-06-10

AI Summary

This work proposes a computational approach to modeling the disintegration of subjective reality during human forgetting by introducing a controllable synaptic decay mechanism into a feedforward 3D reconstruction model. By simulating the degradation of the brain’s predictive priors, the study employs neural networks as cognitive agents to artistically render the experiences of disorientation, poetic ambiguity, and dread associated with memory loss. It pioneers the use of structural degradation in neural networks as a computational analogue of forgetting, thereby establishing a novel pathway in neuromorphic aesthetics for visualizing the fragility of intelligent systems. The outcome is realized through an interactive generative system and art installation that vividly illustrates how memory decline distorts perceptual reality, advancing interdisciplinary research at the intersection of neuroaesthetics and artificial intelligence.

Abstract

Memory is not merely the storage of data; it is the scaffolding of reality. When biological memory fades, the world does not simply turn black; it regresses into an unrecognizable chaos. Echoes of the Prior is an interactive installation that attempts to visualize this subjective phenomenology of forgetting. By inducing controlled synaptic decay within a Feed-Forward 3D Reconstruction model, we create an artistic analogy for the erosion of the brain's predictive priors. We position the Neural Network not as a tool for engineering, but as a cognitive proxy - a silicon brain whose structural degeneration evokes the disorienting, poetic, and terrifying experience of losing one's grip on the world. Ultimately, we offer this framework as a catalyst, inviting the wider community to explore the uncharted potential of neuromorphic aesthetics in visualizing the fragility of intelligence. Interactive demo see https://decart-4d.github.io/.

Problem

• forgetting
• phenomenology
• memory decay
• predictive priors
• neuromorphic aesthetics

Innovation

• synaptic decay
• predictive priors
• neuromorphic aesthetics
• computational phenomenology
• cognitive proxy