Re: [ontolog-forum] Child architecture

[Steven Ericsson-Zenith <steven@xxxxxxx>]

As I noted earlier, this account of "consciousness" is inadequate and contributes nothing to the thesis. 

What, exactly, is an observation? Even informally, from where does a machine running a Tala agent perform such an observation? Where is there the combination of the collected observations such that the agent may differentiate one from another? Assuming that the data structures are stored on a hard disk or similar ("in it's development of conceptual structures") your claim for "understanding" appears to be something in the form of bits upon one or more disk platters. By implication this suggests that "consciousness" (again, however you mean it) is a property of the existence of hard disks or, at least, bit patterns. 

You see the problem, I trust.

If you agreed with Peirce (I don't think you really do, BTW, and I doubt anyone could speak to Wittgenstein's thoughts on this matter) your work would command some greater overall rigor. I fail to see the benefit of adherence to an informal and ancient meaning of the term "semantics" over the greater rigor imposed upon the term subsequently by Carnap.

You make the same mistakes as the many AI and "GAI" authors that have come before you, and you do it spectacularly well. :-)

Steven

On Sat, Dec 20, 2014 at 12:08 PM, Philip Jackson <philipcjacksonjr@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Steven,
 
Thanks for your comments and questions. I can, of course, only reply for myself.
 
Steven Ericsson-Zenith (SEZ) wrote:
>
> A question that I have for both of you is to ask for
> your briefest statement of epistemology. As a pragmatist
> the answer to these questions is apparent, for example,
> the meaning of a concept is unrelated to its name
> (though the name may indeed provide hints), it is the
> behavior to which it refers in the world. Assuming that
> this can be indicated in a satisfactory way independent
> of term, then the term is given a meaning.
 
I agree with the pragmatic perspective. Earlier in the thread, I quoted "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" to express this.
 
SEZ:
> Similarly, you both use the term "semantics" in a way
> that is inadequate. For me, in line with Carnap, the
> term relates to the set of rules that allow a language
> to be transformed.
 
Section 2.2.2 of my thesis discusses "what does meaning mean?" I agree with the perspectives of Peirce and Wittgenstein.

 

SEZ:
> I recently reviewed Philip's thesis and found it to be
> more of the same. Nicely written but I have no idea, for
> example, what use or relevance the section on
> "consciousness" has when it (whatever you mean by the
> term) plays no role what-so-ever in the outcomes.
 
Section 3.7.6 adopts the "axioms of being conscious" proposed by Aleksander and Morton, and discusses how a Tala agent could perform the following kinds of observations:
 
Observation of an external environment
Observation of itself in relation to the external environment.
Observation of internal thoughts.
Observation of time: of the present, the past, and potential futures.
Observation of hypothetical or imaginative thoughts.
Reflective observation: Observation of having observations.
 
A Tala agent can perform these forms of observation, at least in principle. Such observations may be recorded in Tala sentences, which may themselves be matched and processed.
 
It is implicit, but perhaps should have been stated explicitly, that having represented such observations as conceptual structures, a Tala agent could have conceptual processes that enable it to act based on these observations. Thus, such observations could in principle play an important 'role in the outcomes', i.e. in the behavior of a Tala agent, and in its development of conceptual structures representing its understanding of the world (epistemology).
 
Phil

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