Nick, Yeah, the model is pretty obtuse - because I was trying to avoid using terminology like mind, brain, etc. But it was probably a futile effort.
I define lower-case truth as a particular state of a mechanism, an impaired state. So my sensor-connection web - effector mechanism was designed/evolved to be absolutely dynamic and flexible so that it can respond to any possible combination of inputs by activating any and all appropriate outputs. If a sensor or an effector fails, the abilities of the system are diminished. If a specific pathway through the web of pathways becomes fixed and inflexible, the abilities of the system are diminished. I define lower-case truth as nothing more than one of those capability diminishing 'failures' of the system. Because the failure is within the system, it is local - hence 'local truth'. This is not a "belief" in the usual sense of that word, because the word implies a "believer," and I speak of nothing except a mechanism and particular states of that mechanism. Upper-case Truth simply does not exist. Now,application of my model, use of my definition of 'truth', to understand the individual mechanism and its behavior in a large context I need to take small steps. So let me say that my mechanism is what underlies a human individual and look at one aspect of that individual's behavior - the use of language. A language like English is extraordinarily fluid and dynamic. That fluidity and dynamism is diminished, significantly, when individuals increasingly rely on linguistic constructs of the form: A IS B. You have heard me say, many times that the verb 'to be' is the root of all linguistic evil. I made that exact point in my model when asserting that a channelized circuit equated to A (a set of inputs) = B (a set of outputs). At some point, the application of my model/definition to a system containing multiple individual systems would be in order, but I have not approached that topic as yet. Primarily because my intent so far has just to provide the definition of 'truth' that you said was missing from the discussion. davew On Wed, Oct 18, 2017, at 01:28 PM, Nick Thompson wrote: > David, > > Just checking: I have a hard time following the model in detail, but it > sounds like what you mean by "truth" is very like what I mean by > "belief". For me, a belief is a "local truth". > > So, that being the case, what is the name of the thing that you say > doesn't exist, the thing that other people call, T-with-a-capital Truth > Are you asserting that there is no stable purchase point beyond what I > would call, "individual belief". When a group of people coalesces around > a belief, what would you call that? (Shared belief?) Are all shared > beliefs of the same quality? (Group think?) > > Now please remember -- nobody seems to understand this point -- that as > of the moment I have made no argument for the EXISTENCE of anything > beyond local truth. > > Nicholas S. Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology > Clark University > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Prof David > West > Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 12:59 PM > To: friam@redfish.com > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Truth: “Hunh! What is it good for? Absolutely > Nothing!” > > Steve, > > My definition refers to a single system - a single system and is not > intended to suggest anything about interacting systems, nor anything > external to itself. I do assume that this system is contained within a > complex system which is the source of the input signals detected by the > sensors. I similarly assume that the effectors may transmit signals to > the containing system but want to leave that aside for the moment. > > I could metaphorically equate my system to a neural network brain within > the skin of a human being — but again would prefer to simply focus on my > system in a non-anthropomorphized manner; just to keep things simple and > to avoid the potential for diversions into side conversations. > > I am also using neural networks - without naming things as such - again, > to avoid distractions, this makes explanations clumsier, but it serves my > purpose for the moment. > > The connecting web can route any input to any output, using a near > infinite number of pathways. More importantly it can route any > combination of inputs to any combination of outputs along any of the near > INFINITE (I yell only to point out the combinatorial explosion of > pathways) number of routes (circuits). > > Now imagine that this system is an organism and that the connection of > some [input | set of inputs | pattern of inputs] to [an| set of | pattern > of] outputs increases its survival potential. Further imagine that this > system is highly dynamic and acutely optimized to assure than and and all > input/s are conveyed to the most useful output/s (with useful being > simply the increase or maintenance of survival potential. > The web of input-output connects can be 'rewired' in "real time," i.e. > in whatever unit of time exists between receipt of the next inputs. > > Now imagine that a/some sensors seem to receive the same input over and > over again and, due to "fatigue" they either shut down and fail to relay > the input to the web, or they lock into constantly sending the same input > value to the web without regard to whatever was actually sensed. > System fault. > > Similarly, a particular pathway (set of pathways) are utilized more often > when receiving a particular pattern of inputs and those pathways > channelize, essentially become fixed. System fault because the ability of > the system to adapt is impaired. This would be particularly evident if > the pattern of inputs begins to subtly change, but change enough that the > pattern of outputs should be modified and they are not. > > Whenever these faults occur, the system as a whole starts behaving as if > A (set of inputs) IS B (set of outputs). That simply use of the verb 'to > be' is my definition of "truth," and it is purely local because it is a > condition/state of the individual system. > > Very quickly - imagine several such systems interacting. Your marching > band for example. For each member of the band as a single organism (of > the type discussed above) all the other members of the band are simply > part of a containing complex system. When each of the individual systems > are using their innate ability to route the 'right' inputs to the 'right' > outputs the outcome can be cacophony that morphs into an exquisite > performance. But when individual systems start to fail - establish > truthiness - start to "mail in" their part of the overall performance, > the band as a whole and your enjoyment of their performance is bound to > suffer. > > davew > > > > On Tue, Oct 17, 2017, at 04:58 PM, Steven A Smith wrote: > > Dave sez: > > > It is certainly possible for one sensor-web-effector state machine > > > to "infect" another, i.e. stimulate a second machine to replicate > > > the behavior. If that happens we have 'convergence' which is nothing > > > more than collective 'fault'/ 'defectiveness'. > > > > > It sounds as if you believe that resonance, mode locking, phase > > locking, tidal locking, etc. are somehow defective ways for systems > > to interact. I can agree that they are modestly less interesting > > than more chaotic systems. While *I* might find a marching (esp. if > > they are goose-stepping) army aberrant (and abhorrent), I might find a > > *marching band* or *synchronized swimmers* or a dance-troupe following > > a choreography (e.g. Cirque de Soliel perfomance) somehow beautiful. > > And I would suggest these are examples of what you are judging as > > "defective"? I suppose that since only a *subsystem* of the units > > (dancers/musicians/soldiers) are mode/phase-locked for the duration of > > the march/performance, that this is only a partial example and > > therefore only *partially* defective/faulty? > > > > I believe it is in the liminal space which fills the near-locality of > > a shared "dialect" where the interesting stuff happens, not unlike in > > dynamical systems' "edge of chaos". I agree with the technical > > expression that any "statement of Truth" is a defect, but that does > > not mean that it doesn't gesture in the direction of, or roughly > > circumscribe, or provide a proxy for a more transcendent "truth". > > One > > *might* argue that each individual has a private, idiosyncratic > > dialect of "the same language", and that interaction amongst > > individuals whose dialects are similar enough to intend to > > agree/discuss/converge/?? > > > > I would claim that a well formed question suggests a family of "answers" > > and thereby hints at what we want to believe in as "truth". > > > > This paper may (or may not) offer some perspective on the evolution of > > a language/dialect and teh convergence/coherence issue. > > > > https://www.researchgate.net/project/Coherence-Convergence-and-Change- > > A-Sociolinguistic-Variationist-Approach-to-Dialect-and-Standard-Langua > > ge-Use-in-Swabia > > > > - Steve > > > > ============================================================ > > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe > > at St. John's College to unsubscribe > > http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe > http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
