Ah suddenly I realise why flexible/fluid outlines for concepts are an obvious necessity.
The reason they seem like a strange rather than obvious idea is that we - and especially AI-ers - tend to think of concepts in terms of subjects that we are reading about - that we are viewing as spectators from afar. Even concepts as simple as The cat sat on the mat refer to subjects we are spectating. In that case, you may think you can get away (as so many AI-ers try) with defining concepts as sets of more concepts/attributes. But of course, concepts are first and foremost there to direct our **physical actions** - our physical engagement with the world - and needed by animals and humans alike, (incl. Ben's dog being instructed to "fetch" a ball). Start thinking in terms of concepts which have to be instantiated in physical actions/ movements like: "HOLD the cup/ snake/ cactus/ breast/", "EAT/CHEW your apple sauce/ bone/ cheese straw" " CATCH the book/ball/ case/ falling boy ," and if you think of the v. different actions involved in each case, you can see - no? - that you need extremely fluid "blueprints" for actions - that can direct and inform almost infinitely * diverse configurations* of our body and its effectors. Clearly "concept graphs" and all the other so-called conceptual approaches of current AI will be a total bust here. Fluid outlines are equally necessary for other concepts like Cat and Mat, just not so obviously. Bear in mind BTW that concepts direct a simply vast amount of our actions, incl. not so immediately obviously physical actions, like GO to the shops. MOVE to another district. TAKE a tablet. LOOK at him. P.S. Here's an interesting blog on concepts (& related neuroscience) somewhat in line with the above, although not stressing the fluidity of schemas. http://artksthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/07/concepts-cognition-and-anthropomorphism.html ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=8660244-6e7fb59c Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
