> This is also an example of how weird the brain can be from an algorithmic > perspective. In designing an AI system, one tends to abstract cognitive > processes and create specific processes based on these abstractions. (And > this is true in NN type AI architectures, not just logicist ones.) But > evolution is a hacker sometimes: often, rather than abstracting, it reuses > stuff that was created for another purpose, providing hacky mappings to > enable the reuse. This is terrible software engineering practice, but > evolution has a lot of computational resources to work with, and it does > create a lot of buggy things ;) >
The study of historical constraints on evolution's design's principle is fascinating. I took a class with this guy: http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/Departments/Fish/kfl.htm, and he focusses on very interesting problems within systems that would seem to be very boring (the evolution of jaw structures in cichlids). For example, consider hemoglobin, the current means of transmitting oxygen in the body. There might be a better way to do it, in fact, it's almost certain that there is. But evolution would have a very hard time finding it, because we're already heavily invested in the hemoglobin tract. The same thing applies to the brain of course, evolution has invested alot of effort into developing sensory and motor facilities. Logic and reason are crude hacks, tacked on top of a system designed to do nothing of the sort. It's like figuring out how to attach a swimming pool to the space shuttle. (and miracle of miracles, it somehow works, albeit crudely). Small wonder that we are so terribly bad at logic. http://plus.maths.org/issue20/reviews/book1/ Interestingly, there are some primitive parts of our brain that are better at logic and are more rational than our executive function. Animals (and humans) in a classical conditioning paradigm are *excellent* at performing simple behaviors in a way that maximizes reward. We can determine the proper ratio of performance on a two lever task without even being consciously aware of the contingencies. Rats can do this too. In fact, sometimes our advanced forebrain gets in the way of our more primitive structures trying to do what they do best. This is probably why people gamble and play the lottery. I would guess that the payoff matrices for all forms of casino gambling are too subtle and complicated for our primitive rationality agents to comprehend, and so the stupid forebrain gets to have its way. -brad ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/<a href=/faq.html#spam>[EMAIL PROTECTED]</a>
