A Missing Link in Cybernetics

Logic and Continuity
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-0-387-75164-1
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 139 Seiten

In this book I argue that a reason for the limited success of various studies under the general heading of cybernetics is failure to appreciate the importance of con- nuity, in a simple metrical sense of the term. It is with particular, but certainly not exclusive, reference to the Arti cial Intelligence (AI) effort that the shortcomings of established approaches are most easily seen. One reason for the relative failure of attempts to analyse and model intelligence is the customary assumption that the processing of continuous variables and the manipulation of discrete concepts should be considered separately, frequently with the assumption that continuous processing plays no part in thought. There is much evidence to the contrary incl- ing the observation that the remarkable ability of people and animals to learn from experience nds similar expression in tasks of both discrete and continuous nature and in tasks that require intimate mixing of the two. Such tasks include everyday voluntary movement while preserving balance and posture, with competitive games and athletics offering extreme examples. Continuous measures enter into many tasks that are usually presented as discrete. In tasks of pattern recognition, for example, there is often a continuous measure of the similarity of an imposed pattern to each of a set of paradigms, of which the most similar is selected. The importance of continuity is also indicated by the fact that adjectives and adverbs in everyday verbal communication have comparative and superlative forms.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Preface;6
2;Contents;9
3;to 1 Cybernetics: Origins and Aims;12
3.1; Origins;12
3.2; Understanding;14
3.3; Theories;14
3.4; Neuroscience;16
3.4.1; Visual Pathways;18
3.4.2; Microtubule Computation;19
3.4.3; Memory;19
3.4.4; C fibres;20
3.5; Orange, New Jersey;21
3.6; Artificial Intelligence;22
3.7; Wider Applications;24
3.8; Appendix to Chapter 1: Early History;26
3.9; Summary of Chapter 1;26
4;to 2 Where to Start?;28
4.1; Brains and Computers;28
4.2; Discrete Logic;28
4.2.1; Meaning of "Logic";29
4.2.2; Laws of Form;30
4.3; Associative Recall;31
4.3.1; The Binding Problem;32
4.3.2; Models;33
4.3.3; Conditioned Reflex;34
4.4; Application to Process Control;36
4.4.1; Boxes;37
4.4.2; Learning Filters;40
4.4.3; Classification versus Tuning;44
4.4.4; Nontrivial Machines;45
4.5; Conclusion;45
4.6; Summary of Chapter 2;46
5;to 3 Continuous versus Discrete;48
5.1; The Continuous Environment;48
5.1.1; Catastrophe Theory and Dissipative Structures;50
5.2; Nervous System;50
5.2.1; Evolution and Learning;52
5.2.2; Near Misses;57
5.2.3; Logic;58
5.3; AI and Computers;59
5.3.1; The Ashby--Bellman Debate;63
5.4; Summary of Chapter 3;65
6;to 4 Adaptation, Self-Organisation, Learning;67
6.1; Adaptation in Continuous Environments;67
6.2; Even and Odd Objective Functions;69
6.2.1; Optimisation without a Model;71
6.2.2; Optimisation with a Model;73
6.2.3; Models;75
6.3; Error Decorrelation;77
6.4; Self-Organisation;78
6.4.1; JANET;80
6.4.2; Checkers;80
6.4.3; Pandemonium;81
6.5; Emergence of Concepts;82
6.5.1; Bacterial Chemotaxis;85
6.5.2; Daisyworld;86
6.6; Appendix to Chapter 4: Statistics as Running Values;87
6.6.1; Running Values;88
6.6.2; Weighting Patterns;88
6.6.3; Exponential Smoothing;89
6.6.4; Digital Precision;90
6.7; Summary of Chapter 4;92
7;to 5 Backpropagation;94
7.1; Learning in Nets;94
7.1.1; Multilayer Operation;96
7.1.2; Local Goals;96
7.1.3; Significance Feedback;99
7.1.4; Evidence from Biology;105
7.1.5; Structured Feedback;109
7.2; Summary of Chapter 5;112
8;to 6 Self-Reference;114
8.1; Consciousness;114
8.1.1; Hierarchies;114
8.1.2; Everyday Self-Reference;116
8.1.3; Nontrivial Machines and Paradox;117
8.1.4; G'del's Incompleteness Theorem;118
8.1.5; Induction and Deduction;118
8.1.6; Double Bind and Creativity;119
8.2; Summary of Chapter 6;119
9;to 7 Fractal Intelligence;121
9.1; Is Intelligence Fractal;121
9.2; Elementary Exemplification;121
9.3; Fractal Intelligence;123
9.4; Summary of Chapter 7;123
10;to 8 Conclusions;125
10.1; Motivation;125
10.2; Is Artificial Intelligence Possible?;126
10.3; Probably Academic;131
10.4; Summary of Chapter 8;133
11;to References;135