What, Why & How do we Know ?
This is a 2023 Annotation of a 2005 paper prepared originally for the Liverpool Conference on Robert Pirsig and his Metaphysics of Quality (MoQ). The text is unchanged except for correcting a few obvious typos and formatting errors, and to keep me honest the original “It’s Evolutionary Psychology Stupid” remains here complete with old broken … Continue reading “Zero to Pirsig”
[Work in Progress – Draft will be edited without notification.] [Feedback appreciated on the “See / Refs” – where more are needed? Meantime all those indicated will be elaborated and worked into the text. And obviously on the intelligibility of the text so far. Drafting arose out of the “Three Essays” post, particularly “Algorithms for Humans” and … Continue reading “The Information Ontology Metaphysics”
I saw the excellent Dave Snowden speaking at the Annual Mike Jackson lecture at Hull University yesterday evening. [Post Note: The recording now available here.] [Post Note: This post is the start of a conversation in that continues here and again here, in 2024] Excellent in every way – Dave’s presentation and his conversation with … Continue reading “Dave Snowden and Mike Jackson”
A thread starter: One recurring theme of mine is stuff that looks like conspiracy to conspiracy theorists – the coast guy, anyone – is a symptom of having no model or accepted language to account for a felt problem. With the received wisdom of western, objective (scientific) rationality in the dominant culture – feelings don’t … Continue reading “Received Wisdom”
Thinking about an upcoming dialogue, I thought I’d compose a brief outline of what I’m about in 2023. A conversation starter. I’m doing “Systems Thinking”. For 20+ years, I would have called it “Cybernetics” by which I mean the original sense of the term – how humans as living things decide and govern ourselves for … Continue reading “What Am I Thinking?”
[HOLD – Stub only …] Yesterday Philip Ball posted this quip: And today’s demonstration that cells are not machines is… https://t.co/KZLbGKhE6B — Philip Ball (@philipcball) February 16, 2023 And then this was liked by Kevin Mitchell: all talk of “AI becoming conscious” is either based on a complete misunderstanding of AI (and consciousness) or pure … Continue reading “Computing Machines?”
Another informal chat from Michael Levin. (These are very good and this is a good one.) Chirality (asymmetry / handedness) from individual biochemistry and cells scaled-up to organs and anatomy- bio-electrical gradients – but sounds very bottom-up mechanistic / reductivist? Yes, much more, part of the “space” in which development happens. Palpation – in slime-moulds … Continue reading “McGilchrist-Levin Dialogue”
Mentioned very recently – this Solms / Fields / Levin discussion – that Chris Fields is someone I don’t really know much about, but keeps cropping-up in significant references. (Particularly with Levenchuk and AII.) [Note: this post is a stub to which I’m adding thoughts as I read and listen …] This paper … :- … Continue reading “Chris Fields et al”
[UPDATED 21-Dec-2022] I’ve often referred to Dan Dennett as my “hero” when it comes to philosophy and as a consequence I find myself defending his ideas against those that quote the errors of his (1991) “Consciousness Explained”. Even I have dubbed that work “Consciousness (Not) Explained”. As it happens I’m always looking towards – seeking … Continue reading “Under No Illusion”
I’m reading this recent (2021) paper by Dan Dennett -“The User Illusion of Consciousness” because it’s the one where he makes very positive reference to the work of Mark Solms. Or rather, I’m reading it today because I have again been struggling elsewhere with arguments from people who dismiss Dennett as a determinist/compatibilist who sees … Continue reading “Information Processing Illusion?”