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Uploaded June 27, 2011
Issues in the Study of
Abstractions
Author: Jeffrey G. Long ([email protected])
Date: May 1, 2000
Forum: Talk presented at the Eighth Interdisciplinary Conference on Evolutionary Systems, sponsored by the Washington Evolutionary Systems Society.
Contents
Pages 1‐15: Slides (but no text) for presentation
License
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Issues in the Study of AbstractionsAbstractions
Jeffrey G. LongWESS ConferenceWESS Conference
May 2000
OverviewOverview
Ch i O Mi d• Changing Our Minds• The Reality of Abstractions• Types of Learning• Making Notational Engineering a RealMaking Notational Engineering a Real
Discipline
Changing Our Minds: Four People
• Adam-1: Born 200,000 years agoAd 2 B 100 000• Adam-2: Born 100,000 years ago
• Adam-3: Born today• Adam-4: Born 100,000 years hence
AssumptionsAssumptions
Th l ll d H i• The people are all modern Homo sapiens sapiens
• The people are genetically identical• The people grow up to be competent at p p g p p
living a normal life for their times
If Brought Together, Could They Communicate?
B i biliti l li bl• Basic capabilities always reliable:– Smile, cry, show other emotions– Basic cognition: differentiate 3 > 2
• Basic ontological assumptions/beliefs are very different
• Effectively, each exists in a different world y,
The World of Adam 1The World of Adam-1
N l• No language• No numbers• No time• No shapeNo shape• No relations
N l• No value
The World of Adam 2The World of Adam-2
L• Language• No numbers• No time• No shapeNo shape• No relations
N l• No value
The World of Adam 3The World of Adam-3
L• Language• Numbers• Time• ShapeShape• Relations
V l• Value
The World of Adam 4The World of Adam-4
All f th i l b t ti• All of the previous, plus new abstractions that we cannot even imagine– New concepts of language, numbers, time,
shape, relations, valueWh ll b i– Wholly new abstractions
– Wholly new media– Wholly new values and behaviors
Changing Our MindsChanging Our Minds
Th i d f H i h t l• The mind of Hss is what evolves• It evolves via new abstractions and the
application thereof• This creates a new ontologygy• There is a major chasm between people
having vastly different ontologieshaving vastly different ontologies
Are They Real or Inventions?Are They Real or Inventions?
Wh t it i ld t d t i• What criteria could we use to determine this?
• What are the consequences of one or the other?
What criteria could we use?
H d k thi i “ l”?• How do we know anything is “real”?– Intersubjective agreement– Functional utility– Cultural convention
• Are there parallels to the way we learn to see objects?– Piaget’s developmental stages
What are the consequences?What are the consequences?
If b t ti “ l” th• If abstractions are “real” then:– There is some biological/ontogenetic
ti th t ll t thperception process that allows us to see them– There may be some way to see new
abstractions more q ickl or s stematicallabstractions more quickly or systematically– It changes the nature of reality: what we think
is real is only “surface structure”is real is only surface structure
Types of LearningTypes of Learning
N Ab t ti S thi t t ll• New Abstraction: See something totally new in the environment
• New Paradigm: Change our unconscious beliefs about a system or situation
• New Knowledge: Extend our conscious beliefs about a system or situationy
Making Notational Engineering a Real Discipline
U i it R h L b/P• University Research Lab/Program• Private Foundation• For-Profit Corporation• Federal Research LabFederal Research Lab
• Primary requirement: results