Mind Design
Introduction
Mind design is the endeavor
to understand the mind and
intellect in terms of its
design and how it works.
It is a kind of cognitive
psychology focused on
structure and mechanism
more than correlation or
law.
Experiments in mind design
involve building and testing
intelligent artifacts to
understand natural
intelligence.
Mind design is psychology
by reverse engineering.
History
The idea of intelligent
artifacts is old, but only
taken seriously as science
recently.
Breakthroughs in concepts
and technology were
needed before progress
could be made.
The goals and methods
were initially unclear even
to the pioneers.
Mind design has always
involved philosophical
debates about concepts and
foundations.
Overview
The essays cover the
history but emphasize
recent developments.
The authors are
philosophers and scientists
addressing fundamental
issues.
Major trends and schools of
thought are represented
from different viewpoints.
Perspectives and Things
Intelligence depends on
matter suitably arranged,
not anything supernatural.
But how can mind arise
from mere atoms?
Important idea: perspectives
A perspective determines
what can be rightly said
about a thing.
But a perspective also
depends on what the thing
really is.
Key question: What
constrains perspectives and
descriptions?
Kinds of perspectives
Shape, form -)stool, monkey
Composition, makeup -)silk,
brass
How it works, what it does
-)clockwork, intelligence
The Turing Test
Intelligence is about
behavioral capacity.
The test: Can a system
converse like a normal
person?
If yes, it is surely intelligent.
Why conversation?
Conversation
requires/demonstrates
intelligence generally.
One can discuss all
intelligent abilities.
Fakery becomes obvious.
So it's a bold simplification,
but compelling.
Limitations
Ignores perception, action,
and the environment.
Overemphasizes
representation and internal
modeling.
