An analogy
March 19th, 2006
Believe it or not, I’m finally coming to terms with Cognitive Science’s fascination with Artificial Intelligence. I maintain my stance that it will not provide an explanation of cognition, but I have finally come to understand that that debate is not actually the point…what the field of Artificial Intelligence provides for us, is a framework in which to experiment with theories we do get about how the mind works. …Theory first…then implementation.
I get that now, I think.
It’s still not my area though. I’m still signifigantly more fascinated by the semantics of mind, and the physical realization of saide semantics. …..an anlogy:
When we observe an artist painting a landscape, we can ask two kinds of questions about the product taking form. We can wonder about the artist’s physical coorination or the expenditure of caloric energy in getting the job done. But we can ignore such mechanical questions and consider teh painting as an intended end product. Why this interpretation of the scene and not another? What was the artist striving to communicate? What goal did he or she have in mind? …The psychological question was not the “how of motion but the “why” of one style of movement rather than another.
I understand that what the behaviourists are discovering is fascinating, and neurochemical research is certainly an important field for countless reasons. ….but that’s not all there is to understanding the mind. There is an entire other field to do with why the mind does the fascinating things that it does. It is that phenomenon that I want to study.
Entry Filed under: University (Studies and Classes), Cognitive Science
5 Comments Add your own
1. | March 20th, 2006 at 4:10 am
Aiming for the study of simply enjoying the finished product, instead of sidestepping the possible joy and aiming for the mechanical reasoning?
2. | March 20th, 2006 at 7:51 am
Aiming for not losing sight of what the human mind really means. More importantly, aiming for a life pursuing what interests me most.
3. | March 20th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Noooooooo, you can’t come to terms with something like this! Who’s going to be bitter with me?!?!
Granted, I don’t hate AI. I don’t even think it’s a bad thing to study. I just don’t want to study it as much.
You know what I was thinking tonight? I was thinking how it might be really cool if the CogSci program included courses in education (e.g., from OISE faculty). THAT would truly be a wonderful supplement, don’t you think?
4. | March 21st, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Hehehe…bitterness stunts understanding though…i promise i’m not converting! (and i definately don’t want to study it as much!!)
….it would be increeeedable for the cog sci program to integrate some courses from OISE. believe it or not i talked to john about adding some courses in education (through OISE) into my degree, but even with his very active assistance it proved basically impossible for undergraduates to take courses through OISE (bitter!!) …ah well. ….grad school it’ll be. …but oh oh!..here’s a link jun sent me:
http://cogsci.ucsd.edu/~deak/classes/TEP115/printablesyllabus
how cool is that? unfortunately it’s in San Diego…but i told jun that i could maybe handle the commute!
5. | March 21st, 2006 at 3:35 pm
That link…it makes me want to cry. Did you know that UCSD is only a 2-, maybe 2.5-hour drive from my house? Oh well.
Like you said, there’s always graduate school (I am currently salivating over several programs, including many in England…it’d be pretty cool if I ended up there and you ended up in Ireland).
Valient effort today in JUP302, by the way. I hope you’re feeling less frustrated now. If not, I baked a delicious (granted, from-the-box), gluten-/dairy-/soy-free chocolate cake with chocolate frosting this afternoon…I can share…
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