To have an intuitive grasp of cultural information flow dynamics and to understand how intelligent agents evolve individually in relation to group knowledge and cultural evolution - to pin that down with a semi-in touch with reality mathematical model is, to say the least a bit daunting, in my mind anyway. BUT to put it into AGI perspective, once an AGI has access to all existing knowledge and understands this cultural evolution model, it'll be able to bridge all the gaps between exiting historical data samples, put it all together and build a comprehensive picture of how everything came about. It'll be the ultimate Elvis :)
John > From: Ben Goertzel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > It's not exactly AGI ... but if anyone is looking for an interesting, > funded PhD project, this could be worth applying for ... I know Liane > and she's pretty open-minded and interesting... > > -- Ben G > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Liane Gabora > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 11:20 AM > Subject: [DIV10] opportunity for graduate studies in evolution of > human creativity > > > PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE POTENTIALLY INTERESTED: > > I have funding for one or two bright, motivated graduate students > interested in either experimental studies or computer modeling related > to the evolution of human cognition with an emphasis on human > creativity. An outline of the funded project is provided below, but it > is completely acceptable that the project deviate from this original > proposal according to the interests of the student and the demands of > the project as it unfolds. It is still potentially possible for the > student to begin in the fall of 2008 but it would be necessary to > contact me more or less immediately by email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] if > we were to make this happen. A 2009 start date is also possible. > > Liane > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Liane Gabora, Ph.D. > Assistant Professor of Psychology > University of British Columbia > Okanagan campus, 3333 University Way > Kelowna BC, V1V 1V7, CANADA > Ph: (250) 807-9849 Fax: (250)807-8439 > www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/liane > > > > > > Summary of Proposed Research > > > It has often been proposed that life is not the only thing to have > evolved on our planet, that the stories, ideas, beliefs systems, and > artifacts that make up culture also evolve. However it has not been > established in what sense culture constitutes an evolutionary process. > The goal of this research is to definitively establish the mechanisms > by which human culture evolves. I aim to bring forward a theoretical > framework for cultural evolution that is as sound as our theoretical > framework for biological evolution, and apply it to the task of > reconstructing our past and exploring possible futures. > It is widely assumed that what evolves through culture is discrete > units of information (e.g. culturgens or memes). The alternative > investigated here is that what evolves through culture is the mind as > a whole, or more specifically, individuals' internal models of the > world, including habitual ways of thinking and communicating (Gabora, > 2004, 2008). This internal model is referred to as a worldview. Of > necessity, a worldview acquires and expresses cultural information in > the form of discrete units (e.g. gestures or artifacts), but the > processing of it reflects the multifaceted web of knowledge, > experience, needs and perspectives that constitute the worldview. It > is proposed that the worldview is to cultural evolution what the body > is to biological evolution: a self-organizing, self-mending, > self-regenerating structure. It is further proposed that a worldview > evolves not-like modern-day organisms-through natural selection > (survival of the fittest), which operates at the level of populations > (Gabora, 2004, 2005, 2008), but-like pre-DNA life forms-through > piecemeal transformation at the level of individuals (Gabora, 2006; > Vetsigian, Woese, & Goldenfeld, 2006). In other words, cultural > evolution evolves through a Lamarckian process more akin to the > evolution of the earliest life than present-day life. > This theory will be developed and tested in the proposed research > program. The first project builds on a computer model of culture that > showed that the invention and imitation of ideas in a group of neural > network based agents exhibits change that is cumulative and adaptive > but of limited complexity, and not open-ended (Gabora, 1995). Agents' > cognitive architecture will be modified to facilitate the blending of > concepts, the chaining of ideas and actions, and implementation of > actions that cumulatively modify their environment. They will also be > given the ability to shift according to the demands of the situation > between top-down and bottom-up modes of information processing, > thereby simulating the human capacity to spontaneously and > unconsciously shift between analytic (convergent) and associative > (divergent) forms of thought. I will assess the degree to which the > resulting cognitive architecture has the self-organizing, > self-mending, self-regenerating structure proposed to make Lamarckian > evolution possible. I will investigate whether the modified agents > exhibit cultural evolution that is not just cumulative and adaptive > but open-ended, i.e. generate inventions that are unanticipated, and > that create niches for new inventions. The second project will result > in a psychologically informed software program for reconstructing > human material cultural history. The program allows the user to enter > the attributes of artifacts associated with one or more distinct or > interacting cultural groups. It provides information about this > pattern of artifact distribution that is not evident from the > attribute level because it reflects understanding at the conceptual > level, such as analogical transfer (e.g. of the concept HANDLE from > KNIFE to CUP), or the knowledge that two artifacts are complementary > (e.g. MORTAR and PESTLE). The program then postulates 'lineages', i.e. > patterns of relatedness, amongst the artifacts that takes into account > both externally driven change (e.g. trade) and internally driven > change (e.g. blending of different traditions) using as an initial > data set decorated ceramics from Easter Island. The program has the > potential to be used for other elements of culture (e.g. gestures or > languages); indeed to reconstruct the cultural evolution of the > various interacting facets of human worldviews. > In sum, the proposed research advances a promising and innovative > approach to the study of cultural evolution, with implications that > extend across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. It > tackles questions that lie at the foundation of who we are and what > makes us distinctive. > > ------------------------------------------- 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
