CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Pictures, Language, Writing
Thinking, Memory, biology limits
Human Memory, Intuition, Poetry, Harmony, Creativity
Knowledge v. Information, Learning, Continual
Religion, Artificial Intelligence
Data, Common Sense, Intuition, Learning
Can Machine's Think, Robert Wright
Time Article, Can Machines Think
Consciousness, Soul

2111 -
2111 -    ..
2112 - Summary/Objective
2113 -
211301 - Follow up ref SDS 17 0000. ref SDS 16 0000.
211302 -
211303 - Reviewed an article in 960325 issue of Time magazine, similar to
211304 - Newsweek article in relation to work on defining Communication Metrics
211305 - reported 960321, ref SDS 20 0001 relative to cognitive science begun
211306 - with Improbable Machine reviewed on 900303, ref SDS 1 0001, and
211307 - recently with Tom Landauer's paper, Plato's Paper on congitive
211308 - science.
211309 -
211310 -
211311 -
211313 -  ..
2114 -
2115 -
2116 - Progress
2117 -
211701 - Received article in the 960325 issue of Time magazine, ref OF 6 0001,
211702 - that explains new work on artificial intelligence relative to how the
211703 - human brain/mind functions.  This follows up recent Newsweek article,
211704 - both of which reflect the recent event where an IBM computer beat a
211705 - chess champion in one game. ref OF 6 0001
211707 -  ..
211708 - My interest is on how computers can make connections between
211709 - disparate information and humand/organizational needs, and determine
211710 - what needs to be done, when, who and how, and what will happen as a
211711 - result, and then what needs to be done.
211712 -
211714 -  ..
211715 - Brain v. Mind, Soul, Religion, Consciousness
211716 -
211717 - Consciousness is the term currently used in philosophy and cognitive
211718 - science that roughly correlates to the traditional notion of "soul"
211719 - for discussing the essence of life, apart from the material form.
211720 - ref OF 6 0Y7K
211722 -  ..
211723 - The article discusses the distinction between the physical properties
211724 - and functioning of the human brain, and the result of its functioning,
211725 - which is described as the "mind," ref OF 6 BY6K, and refers to
211726 - "consciousness," which seems to be the referent in religion to the
211727 - soul, summarized as the...
211729 -                       ..
211730 -                      Mind-body Problem
211731 -
211732 - .... ref OF 6 4Q9S
211733 -
211734 -    On 940219 reviewed article on Francis Crick, who invented the DNA
211735 -    structure, and later focused on how the mind works. ref SDS 7 8381
211737 -  ..
211738 - This current article is about explanations from religion and science
211739 - of the brain that can be expressed as the difference between the
211740 - material when it is alive and when it has died? ref OF 6 02GZ
211741 -
211742 -       See Dr. Landauer's LSA model of induction reviewed on 960325
211743 -       that offers a mathematical model of converting information into
211744 -       "knowledge." ref SDS 22 5689
211745 -
211746 -   •  "Soul" is an idea attribued to Rene Descartes in the 17th
211747 -      century, that steers the body through life, ref OF 6 line 136.
211748 -
211749 -         This language is similar to the "automatic pilot" idea used in
211750 -         the POIMS paper, ref OF 1 line 621.
211751 -
211752 -   •  Chalmers has written a new book, ref OF 6 line 124, arguing
211753 -      consciousness is a mystery beyond scientific inquiry. He and
211754 -      Dennett are building an AI robot at MIT, ref OF 6 line 186.
211755 -
211756 -   •  Daniel Dennett, Tufts University disputes Chalmers, ref OF 6 line
211757 -      126, claiming consciousness can be defined and replicated at some
211758 -      time in the future, per his 1991 book "Consciousness Explained"
211759 -      ref OF 6 line 161.
211760 -
211761 -   •  Gilbert Ryle at Oxford published "The Concept of Mind" in 1949
211762 -      that formalized the idea that consciousness can be replicated by
211763 -      a computer, ref OF 6 line 132.
211764 -
211765 -   •  Recent thinking recognizes the complexity of "consciousness,"
211766 -      e.g., Rutgers University philosopher Colin McGinn, author of "The
211767 -      Problem of Consciousness" disputes Dennett's conclusions, ref OF
211768 -      6 line 166.
211770 -    ..
211771 -   New Mysterians
211772 -   Integrating Religion and Science
211773 -
211774 -   Philosophers who maintain consciousness is a mystery, ref OF 6 line
211775 -   171, e.g., Chalmers, McGinn.
211776 -
211777 -   These folks strive to accomodate historical religious perspective
211778 -   with scientific inquiry of AI, ref OF 6 line 179.
211779 -
211780 -
211782 -  ..
211783 - Artificial Intelligence
211784 - Turing Test of "Thinking"
211785 -
211786 - Suppose an interrogator is communicating by keyboard with a series of
211787 - entities that are concealed from view.  Some entities are people, some
211788 - are computers, and the interrogator has to guess which is which. To
211789 - the extent that a computer fools interrogators, it can be said to
211790 - think. ref OF 6 line 59.
211792 -  ..
211793 - So far no computer has consistently passed the Turing test, ref OF 6
211794 - line 73.
211796 -  ..
211797 - Computer scientists in AI focus on this question. ref OF 6 line 79.
211799 -      ..
211800 -     Common Sense
211801 -
211802 -     Computers have difficulty acquiring common sense, like recognizing
211803 -     a face, understanding a joke, making "small talk," playing Trivial
211804 -     Pursuit. ref OF 6 line 82  (see Campbell at ref SDS 1 line 258.)
211805 -
211806 -     My view of this is that distinguishing a face requires exposure to
211807 -     a lot of faces; similarly, small talk, requires the will, i.e.,
211808 -     motivation, to respond on matters that are unfamiliar by changing
211809 -     to another topic.  Small talk requires exposure to a wide range of
211810 -     subjects, awarness of feelings and of sensitive subjects, ability
211811 -     to introduce a subject tangentially and in a small way so it can
211812 -     be tested for receptivity and changed if sensed to be not well
211813 -     received.  This is an interplay between ears, eyes and experience.
211814 -     How does a machine gain such experience, per Campbell's point that
211815 -     humans are "experience machines?" ref SDS 1 line 163.
211816 -
211817 -         See discussion with Morris on distinction between "data" which
211818 -         machines can handle, and information, knowledge and wisdom,
211819 -         which are more sophisticated, ref SDS 19 line 741;
211821 -          ..
211822 -         [Follow up with Dave Vannier, ref SDS 25 line 162, and further
211823 -         discussion with Morris, ref SDS 26 line 100.]
211825 -      ..
211826 -     AI Recognize Faces
211827 -
211828 -     Author reports without citing evidence that AI can recognize faces
211829 -     using "parallel computers" ref OF 6 line 100, and concludes AI is
211830 -     maing computers more like the human brain.
211831 -
211833 -  ..
211834 - Consciousness
211835 -
211836 - This is summarized with the question of are "lights are on, is anybody
211837 - home?" ref OF 6 line 113, in distinguishing between mind/soul and
211838 - brain.  Are computers sentient? ref OF 6 line 115, which means
211839 - experiencing sensations or feelings, ref OF 6 line 231.
211840 -
211841 -         [See later work at ref SDS 24 line 89.]
211842 -      ..
211843 -     Physical Characteristics
211844 -     Data Being Converted into Information
211845 -
211846 -     Consciousness is described as subjective.  It is more than
211847 -
211848 -         "... nuronal data flow corresponding to our thoughts and
211849 -         feelings but the thoughts and feelings themselves. You know:
211850 -         the exhilaration of insight or the dull anxiety of doubt.
211852 -      ..
211853 -     Thus "data" is converted into meaningful information received
211854 -     and/or issued that results in feelings and therefore motivations
211855 -     to act. ref OF 6 line 108.  Later it is described as mytaphysical
211856 -     because it is a motive force, rather than having an apparent
211857 -     physical form, but has the power of turning "water into wine." ref
211858 -     OF 6 line 270.
211859 -
211860 -         [Later applied to work with Intel, ref SDS 25 line 173, and
211861 -         analysis at ref SDS 26 line 89.]
211863 -      ..
211864 -     Computers can be programed to sense temperature or changes in
211865 -     light, and sound, but what about combinations of words that make
211866 -     sentences and paragraphs, per Dr. Landauer's LSA model for
211867 -     dimension matching that creates "meaning." ref SDS 20 line 161.
211869 -      ..
211870 -     Conceivably they could sense changes in facial expressions or body
211871 -     language, possibly they might simply measure changes in heart beat
211872 -     but how would that be evaluated as joy, dismay or fear?  They need
211873 -     a massive amount of experience and need to be collecting it
211874 -     continuously as the mind does in order to have sufficient
211875 -     templates to recognize nuance, identify meaning.
211876 -
211878 -  ..
211879 - AI Emulates "Consciousness"
211880 -
211881 - Chalmers and Dennett are developing a robot called "Cog" at M.I.T.'s
211882 - artificial-intelligence lab.  Cog will have a membrane that resembles
211883 - human skin.
211884 -       ..
211885 -      Data Packets
211886 -
211887 -      The robot will have data packets that react to temperature, ref
211888 -      OF 6 line 189.  Chalmers and Dennett believe humans have similar
211889 -      "data packets."
211890 -
211891 -         What may be overlooked here is that humans react to sensory
211892 -         input from a variety of inputs, including context, sight,
211893 -         sound, experience.  So humans have a lot of data packets that
211894 -         are in constant flux under constant review and update based on
211895 -         experience in the world.
211897 -       ..
211898 -      Feelings in Human Behavior
211899 -      Objective v. Subjective Capacity
211900 -
211901 -      The author distinguishes "Data Packets" as data flow, from
211902 -      experiencing the feeling of pain. ref OF 6 line 200, and
211903 -      describes this as "subjective experience" as distinguished from
211904 -      something that can be identified objectively, ref OF 6 line 204.
211906 -       ..
211907 -      The author calls this distinction the source of human "feelings."
211908 -      ref OF 6 line 210, also ref OF 6 line 231.
211909 -
211910 -         "Pain" seems "objective" to me, it is a simple, direct metric
211911 -         that is set at a temperature which begins to cause harm.  A
211912 -         computer can likely be wired to replicate this in some crude
211913 -         manner.  This seems to me to miss the point of the objective
211914 -         v. subjective question.
211916 -          ..
211917 -         My take is that "subjective" analysis is personal.  What is
211918 -         the perceived impact on an individual or organization.  This
211919 -         relates to what is safe or desired personally, regardless of
211920 -         impact on others, i.e., self-preservation, and self-enjoyment.
211921 -         Humans have subjective capacities because each are unique and
211922 -         autonomous, though in some way part of a community as a
211923 -         survival strategy.
211925 -          ..
211926 -         So we might say humans and other animals can sense and take
211927 -         action when something is occurring or about to occur that can
211928 -         alter its fundamental condition, i.e., harm it or improve it,
211929 -         whereas, a plant or rock lacks this capacity of consciousness.
211931 -          ..
211932 -         Can computers sense they are receiving electricity and take
211933 -         action because of it?  Can they take other actions, like
211934 -         reading a book, or series of reading material, to experience
211935 -         sensations, i.e., do they have any wants, desires that can be
211936 -         partially satisfied, fully satisfied, or result in joy, glee,
211937 -         elation?  How are these desires satisfied and traded off, so
211938 -         at some point the computer begins doing something else, or
211939 -         simply stops to rest?
211941 -       ..
211942 -      "God" Created Consciousness/Soul
211943 -      --------------------------------
211944 -      Chalmers claims "God could have created the world physically
211945 -      exactly like this one, atom for atom, but with no consciousness
211946 -      at all. And it would have worked just as well." ref OF 6 8499
211947 -
211948 -         This seems to overlook that some things are equiped to avoid
211949 -         harm and seek pleasure.  Without consciousness, humans and
211950 -         other animals would be different.  They would be plants and
211951 -         rocks.
211953 -       ..
211954 -      The view that consciousness is "extra" because it is not
211955 -      necessary for plants and rocks is described as supporting the
211956 -      relgious explanation of life as possessing a soul, ref OF 6 line
211957 -      236, attributed to Decartes.
211959 -  ..
211960 - Intelligence is Subconscious
211961 - Pandemonium, Paradigms, Templates
211962 -
211963 - The author describes a model called "pandamonium" that subconsciously
211964 - the brain evaluates alternative "theories" about what has been
211965 - encountered (seen, heard, felt), and chooses a best fit theory to pass
211966 - forward to the conscious mind. ref OF 6 9558
211967 -
211968 -    This supports review on 900303 of the "Improbable Machine" where
211969 -    Jeromy Campbell explains paradigms and patterns. ref SDS 1 6831 and
211970 -    ref SDS 1 0404.
211972 -     ..
211973 -    Supports explanation of "intelligence" and the "subconscious" in
211974 -    POIMS. ref OF 1 0582
211976 -     ..
211977 -    Information into Knowledge
211978 -
211979 -    The author cites Chalmers as asking how do data become part of
211980 -    consciousness? ref OF 6 9583
211982 -        ..
211983 -       Time and Information Flow
211984 -
211985 -       My sense is that information and paradigms or templates are
211986 -       under constant review by the brain, based on the current state
211987 -       of alert, and it is a matter of trial and error.  In the
211988 -       beginning we rely on existing templates, including credibility.
211989 -       But over time the templates, paradigms, theories, sterotypes are
211990 -       changed when enough conflicting evidence accumulates.
211992 -        ..
211993 -       Like Campbell, and Landauer, the analysis in Time magazine seems
211994 -       to overlook the role of time in converting information into
211995 -       knowledge, per review on 940609 of Kissinger at ref SDS 8 3399.
211996 -       See role of "history," reviewed on 921217, ref SDS 4 7344, and
211997 -       analysis of "faith" on 921205. ref SDS 3 8493
211998 -
211999 -          Actually, Landauer cites time in processing information by
212000 -          recognizing that new knowledge is derived from a map of old
212001 -          knowledge, reviewed on 960518. ref SDS 27 8811
212002 -
212003 -
212004 -
2121 -

SUBJECTS
Water into Wine; PC subject of
Talk is Cheap, Religion
Talk Credit Avoid Accountability,
Water Wine Invest Time Saves Time SDS Adds Intelligence to Management
Straw Gold Invest Time Saves Time SDS Adds Intelligence to Management
Time Article Chalmers Says Converting Information into Knowledge is a
Turning Water into Wine Biblical Mystery Reflects Mystery of Converti
Information Converted into Knowledge Intelligence Occurs in Subconsci
Intelligence Converting Information into Knowledge is a Mystery Like

3511 -
351201 -     ..
351202 -    Water into Wine - Religion
351203 -
351204 -    The mental process of making connections between new information
351205 -    and subject identification, is described as "turning water into
351206 -    wine," possibly to correlate with the biblical story of Jesus, see
351207 -    ref OF 6 9583.  This idea seems related to connectionist theory in
351208 -    Jeromy Campbell's book reviewed on 900303, ref SDS 1 6006, and to
351209 -    the idea of history developed on 921217. ref SDS 4 7344.
351211 -     ..
351212 -    On 931130 Drucker relates ideas in the field of communication on
351213 -    the mystery of how the mind converts information into knowledge.
351214 -    ref SDS 6 3851
351216 -     ..
351217 -    On 940219 reviewed article on Francis Crick, who invented the DNA
351218 -    structure, and later focused on how the mind works. ref SDS 7 8381
351219 -
351220 -        [On 960324 Tom Landauer offers a mathematical explanation of
351221 -        how the mind may convert information into knowledge, using
351222 -        induction per ref SDS 21 3250, and on 960325. ref SDS 22 1100.]
351224 -         ..
351225 -        [On 960410 discussed these ideas with General Hatch on turning
351226 -        "Straw into Gold," ref SDS 23 7477.]
351228 -         ..
351229 -        [On 960627 discussed with Intel on Asilomar, ref SDS 28 4899,
351230 -        and on humans constantly writing our own story. ref SDS 28 7361
351232 -     ..
351233 -    The mind's ability to convert information into higher forms called
351234 -    knowledge, wisdom and vision, gives rise to theological expressions
351235 -    of "soul" found in religion.  It is fascinating that the very
351236 -    meaning of "religion" appears to offer the answer congnitive
351237 -    scientists are seeking, per NWO paper. ref OF 2 4723
351238 -
351239 -        [On 960510 developed organic structure of mental acuity or
351240 -        consciousness. ref SDS 26 5672]
351242 -         ..
351243 -        [On 000113 "black box" explains Knowledge Management technology
351244 -        that has no design, no tools, no work product -- human mental
351245 -        connections total mystery, ref SDS 31 3380, reflecting Biblical
351246 -        mystery of turning water into wine.
351248 -         ..
351249 -        [On 040312 energy echanged connecting cause and effect drives
351250 -        the power of knowledge to control the future; theory from
351251 -        physics helps resolve some of the mystery about the mental
351252 -        process of making connections. ref SDS 32 YH4G
351254 -         ..
351255 -        [On 080124 case study anger, frustration, fear, willfully blind
351256 -        refusing to consider "connectionist theory" from cognitive
351257 -        science, and "locality principle" from physics for principled
351258 -        explanation of Knowledge Management, reflects cultural inertia
351259 -        of denial over many millennia to consider human mental
351260 -        processing beyond Biblical explanations of the soul that "turns
351261 -        water into wine." ref SDS 33 F25I
351263 -         ..
351264 -        [On 080502 health care Kaiser computer "Black Box" transaction
351265 -        ordering medication prescription results uncertain. ref SDS 34
351266 -        PW6M
351267 -
351268 -
351270 -     ..
351271 -    Water Under the Bridge
351272 -
351273 -    This homilie implies the past is something that cannot be changed,
351274 -    and so should be forgotten, per record on 950822, ref SDS 11 9433,
351275 -    and on 950517. ref SDS 10 8599  It is the corellary to the idea of
351276 -    "turning water into wine" which says the past can be used
351277 -    productively, if it is linked up into connections that forsee the
351278 -    future, ref SDS 2 6922.
351280 -       ..
351281 -      [On 990425 view that SDS helps dispute resolution, but not
351282 -      planning and managing daily work. ref SDS 29 5644]
351284 -       ..
351285 -      [On 991108 history of writing shows it emerged as a means to use
351286 -      human experience called "history" to anticipate and "interpret"
351287 -      the liklihood of future events. ref SDS 30 3339]
351289 -     ..
351290 -    Straw into Gold
351291 -
351292 -    On 911121 a more useful idea for management on the benefits in
351293 -    converting information into knowledge is "turning straw into gold,"
351294 -    per discussion with Morris, ref SDS 2 2582.
351295 -
351296 -        [On 960627 discussed with Intel on Asilomar. ref SDS 28 4899]
351298 -     ..
351299 -    Straws in the Wind
351300 -
351301 -    Information becomes "straw in the wind," when managers fail to
351302 -    connect current events for patterns of cause and effect, and fail
351303 -    to consult past experience for clues about what to do about the
351304 -    future, per record on 950517. ref SDS 10 7943, and ref SDS 10 8599.
351306 -     ..
351307 -    Talk is Cheap
351308 -
351309 -    This also reflects the condition of unsupported dialog, from review
351310 -    of Stephen Covey's book, "7 Habits...," ref SDS 3 1558.
351312 -  ..
351313 - Hard Questions of Cognition
351314 -
351315 - These are described as understanding consciousness, explained as
351316 - feelings in this article, per above, and pandemonium, explained as
351317 - selecting a best fit template or pattern for new information, are
351318 - considered the unsolved questions in this discipline. ref OF 6 line
351319 - 286.
351320 -     ..
351321 -    Questions Not Raised in the Article
351322 -
351323 -    What about the fragility of knowledge? on 950204 ref SDS 9 0550
351324 -
351325 -    The impact of time, the rate and volume of information, causing
351326 -    knowledge creep? see NWO... ref OF 2 9449 and the record on 951012.
351327 -    ref SDS 13 9403
351329 -     ..
351330 -    The difference between pictures and sound and writing? reviewed on
351331 -    940609. ref SDS 8 4671, and in the NWO..paper. ref OF 2 2732
351333 -     ..
351334 -    Where is consideration of Dr. Landauer's LSA model of induction
351335 -    that seems to explain "knowledge." on 960325, ref SDS 22 1100
351336 -
351338 -  ..
351339 - Experts have difficulty communicating on these matters. ref OF 6 9080
351340 -     ..
351341 -    Hard Sell for SDS
351342 -
351343 -    This suggests in part why SDS and Communication Metrics seems a
351344 -    little hard to grasp, because they treat an innate capacity that
351345 -    requires volition to consider a process that occurs automatically.
351346 -
351347 -
351348 -
3514 -