> So if I tell you to "handle" an object, or a piece of business, like say > "removing a chair from the house" - that word "handle" is open-ended and > gives you vast freedom within certain parameters as to how to apply your > hand(s) to that object. Your hands can be applied to move a given box, for > example, in a vast if not infinite range of positions and trajectories. Such > a general, open concept is of the essence of general intelligence, because > it means that you are immediately ready to adapt to new kinds of situation - > if your normal ways of handling boxes are blocked, you are ready to seek out > or improvise some strange new contorted two-finger hand position to pick up > the box - which also count as "handling". (And you will have actually done a > lot of this). > > So what is the "meaning" of "handle"? Well, to be precise, it doesn't have > a/one meaning, and isn't meant to - it has a range of possible > meanings/references, and you can choose which is most convenient in the > circumstances.
Actually I'd make a stronger statement than that. It's not just that we can CHOOSE the meanings of concepts from a fixed menu of possibilities ... we CREATE the meanings of concepts as we use them ... this is how and why concept-meanings continually change over time in individual minds and in cultures... This is parallel to how we create episodic memories as we "re-live" them, rather than retrieving them as if from a database... These creation processes do however seem to be realizable in digital computer systems, based on my theoretical understanding ... though none of us have done it yet, it's certainly loads of work given current software tools... Ben ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=98558129-0bdb63 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
