Thought as Reason Respecting:
(Example from Fodor 1985, ÒFodorÕs Guide to Mental RepresentationsÓ.)
Consider the way Sherlock Holmes reasons:
I instantly reconsidered my
position when, however, it became
clear to me that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not
come either from the window or the door. My attention was speedily drawn, as
I have already remarked to you, to
this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The discovery that this was a
dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was there
as a bridge for something passing
through the hole and coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred
to me, and when I coupled it with
my knowledge that the doctor was furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was
probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not possibly be discovered by any
chemical test was just such a one
as would occur to a clever and ruthless man who had had an Eastern training.
The rapidity with which such a
poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be an advantage. É (From The Adventure of the Speckled
Band, Arthur Conan Doyle)
Vs. James JoyceÕs Molly Bloom:
if they only knew him as well as I do yes because the day before yesterday he was scribbling something a letter when I came into the front room for the matches to show him Dignams death in the paper as if something told me and he covered it up with the blottingpaper pretending to be thinking about business so very probably that was it to somebody who thinks she has a softy in him because all men get a bit like that at his age especially getting on to forty he is now so as to wheedle any money she can out of him no fool like an old fool and then the usual kissing my bottom was to hide it not that I care two straws who he does it with or knew before that way though Id like to find out so long as I dont have the two of them under my nose all the time like that slut that Mary we had in Ontario terrace padding out her false bottom to excite him bad enough to get the smell of those painted women off him once or twice I had a suspicion by getting him to come near me when I found the long hair on his coat without that one when I went into the kitchen pretending he was drinking water I woman is not enough for them it was all his fault of course ruining servants then proposing that she could eat at our table on Christmas if you please O no thank you not in my house stealing my potatoes and the oysters 2/6 per doz going out to see her aunt if you please common robbery so it was but I was sure he had something on with that one it takes me to find out a thing like that he said you have no proof it was her proof O yes her aunt was very fond of oysters but I told her what I thought of her suggesting me to go out to be alone with her I wouldnt lower myself to spy on them the garters I found in her room the Friday she was out that was enough for me a little bit too much I saw too that her face swelled up on her with temper when I gave her her weeks notice better do without them altogether do out the rooms myself quicker only for the damn cooking and throwing out the dirt I gave it to him anyhow either she or me leaves the house I couldnt even touch him if I thought he was with a dirty barefacedÉ (from Ullysses)
John Haugeland: ÒSemantic Engines: An Introduction to Mind DesignÓ
1. Terrific introduction to the central ideas of classical AI / Cognitive Science
2. Employs the idea of a formal system or a Ògame in which tokens are manipulated according to rules to see what configurations can be obtained.Ó
3. Alan Turing and Turing Machines
For a Virtual Turing Machine on the web (that you can program), see http://www.nmia.com/~soki/turing/
How to run a machine...(initial state, read value, final state, write value, movement)
Addition (from Paul MingÕs Virtual Turing Machine website http://infohost.nmt.edu/~prcm/turing/):
Tape reads: B111011B
Initial State: Pass
Located at leftmost characterÉ
pass, 1, pass, 1, R # get past the numbers
pass, 0, pass, 1, R # change the zero
pass, B, del1, B, L # end of second number, start going
# back to delete the last 1
del1, 1, del2, B, L # delete the last 1, go back to
# delete the second to last 1
del2, 1, stop, B, R # deletes the second to last 1
Semantics: a number is a
series of Ô1Õs including an extra Ô1Õ.
4. Digital vs. Analog
Advantages of digital and of analog
5. Syntax vs. Semantics (againÉ) (from Haugeland 1981 25ff)
= 5 = 1 ü = ü 3 - 1 - 8 + 1 - 5940
71 ü 92 x =61=040 84-1 x 5 =
TRANSLATION SCHEME 1:
'1' ˆ equals '6' ˆzero '+' ˆ five
'2' ˆ plus '7' ˆone '-' ˆ six
'3' ˆ minus '8' ˆtwo 'x' ˆ seven
'4' ˆ times '9' ˆthree 'ü' ˆ eight
'5' ˆ divide by '0' ˆfour '=' ˆ nine
THUS:
9 ü 9 = 8 98-6 = 62 5 = 6 ü 3 x 4
1 = 83 + 7 90 = 94 x 40 2 x 6 = 7 ü 9
TRANSLATION SCHEME 2:
'1' ˆ equals '6' ˆzero '+' ˆ five
'2' ˆ divide by '7' ˆnine '-' ˆ four
'3' ˆ times '8' ˆeight 'x' ˆ three
'4' ˆ minus '9' ˆseven 'ü' ˆ two
'5' ˆ plus '0' ˆsix '=' ˆ one
THUS:
1 + 1 = 2 12 X 4 = 48 5 = 4 + 7 - 6
9 = 27 ü 3 10 = 16 - 6 8 - 4 = 3 + 1
6. Semantics and Pragmatics: Why interpreting people is differentÉ
(a) Rationality
(b) Reliability
(c) Cooperative
(d) "Felicity Conditions"