Abstract

The black hole information paradox remains a central obstacle to unifying general relativity with quantum mechanics. This paper introduces a cognitive phase space framework for black hole thermodynamics, in which the event horizon is reinterpreted as a storage surface for cognitive entropy—the irreducible information accumulated in the microstructure of spacetime. Hawking radiation is reconceived as an irreversible cognitive entropy reduction process, driven by the monotonic decline of structural coherence entropy postulated in the Curiosity Origin Theory. We define the horizon cognitive entropy and derive a modified Bekenstein–Hawking entropy formula that incorporates cognitive contributions. A generalized Hawking temperature is obtained, predicting small but falsifiable deviations from the standard thermal spectrum. The framework provides a mathematically self-consistent resolution of the information paradox without violating unitarity, and offers testable predictions for gravitational wave echoes and black hole shadow observations. All derivations are anchored in the two fundamental axioms of the cognitive phase space theory.