Why?

Cognitive Architectures and Deep Thinking ISSIP Conference Call

21 January, 2016

Jack Park

My Purpose

• Is Not

– To advance our understandings by making claims, broad or otherwise.

• Is

– To explore avenues which can lead to advanced understandings by way of illustrations , with a touch of theoretical considerations

– To start a larger conversation…

Situation A

• Niel deGrasse Tyson asked Sir Richard Branson if Sir Richard could grant free rides to space for politicians and world leaders*

• Why?

• Tyson had stated that every astronaut he interviewed could not imagine lifting arms against another human after experiencing Earth from space.

• Why?

* http://www.techinsider.stfi.re/neil-degrasse-tyson-meets-pepper-the-robot-at-clinton-globale-initiative-2015-9?sf=aaeoxy after minute 46 in the video

Situation B

• A person’s parent succumbs to the end game of a Leukemia.

– The person is told by the parent’s physician that Leukemias are not familial; nothing to worry about.

– Several years later, that person is diagnosed with the same Leukemia.

• Why?

Situation C

• CO2 in the upper atmosphere is claimed to contribute to climate change

• Why?

• CO2 is defined as a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change.

• Why?

Why Indeed! Aristotle’s 4 Causes*

• Material Cause – Change related to the material composition

(components)

• Formal Cause – Change related to the arrangement, shape, structure

(design)

• Efficient Cause – Change related to agency (carpenters)

• Final Cause – Change related to the target to which change directs

(purpose)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_causes

Final Cause

• Final Cause as:

– Purpose

– Emergent state based on a final binding of the history

– Anticipation*: a predictive model

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticipation_(artificial_intelligence)

Robert Rosen (1985): Anticipatory Systems

A Non-living Example

What How Why

A Living Example

Tighter Focus

Why Microbiome?

Anticipatory Systems:

Closed To Efficient Cause

Robert Rosen *

(1991): Life Itself

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rosen_(theoretical_biologist)

Why Ask Why?

• To Study Complex Systems – Anticipatory Systems

• Living systems are anticipatory

– Deep Thinking: • Relational Models of complex systems entail

examination of all aspects of causality

A system containing a predictive model of itself and/or its environment, which allows it to change state at an instant in accord with the model's predictions pertaining to a later instant. (Rosen)*

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticipation_(artificial_intelligence)

Robert Rosen (1985): Anticipatory Systems

Thanks to the organizers at IBM: Jim Spohrer Dianne Fodell

Thanks to reviewers: Randy Goebel Mark Szpakowski Nefer Doane

Why Not? Cognitive Systems Institute talks are archived at http://cognitive-science.info/community/weekly-update/

jackpark@topicquests.org