Please distribute...
You are hereby invited to our twentieth "Evolution, Complexity and
Cognition (ECCO)" seminar of 2005:
From Folklore to
Science
by
(Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research, Mumbay, India)
Place: room 3C204 (building C, 3rd floor), VUB campus
Oefenplein
Time: Thursday,
July 28, at 17:30 h.
(note: this is not on the usual Friday!)
Abstract:
The focus of this work is on the metasystem transition from
folklore to science, which happens only in the context of an
institutionalized teaching/learning. It is proposed that during
the course of cognitive development knowledge becomes more and more
explicit, and the process of explicitization is by reencoding
representational redescriptions. I will argue that science is not an
extension of folklore, but a metamorphosis of it. Science
describes procedural representations declaratively and declarative
representations procedurally. Objectivity according to this view is
procedural reproducibility of phenomena, and possibility of invariant
operational descriptions. Scientific language is artificial
(constructed) and trans-cultural. Science is non-inductive,
counter-intuitive, and intrinsically difficult to learn for all
cultures. It progresses only by means of social inheritance and
dynamics. This view is a reconciliation of constructivism and
objectivism. Implications of this view for science education
will also be discussed.
About the speaker:
Dr. Nagarjuna G. works at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science
Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research as Fellow E.
He works in the area of Biological roots of cognition, Knowledge
Organization, Metacognitive studies, History and Philosophy of
Science, and is an advocate of Free Software for Education and
Research. Currently he is developing an expert system for
knowledge management called "GNOWSYS: Gnowledge Networking and
Organizing System" developed in Python and Zope. He is the
coordinator of the Centre's portal site development for science and
mathematics education, which will be launched soon at
http://www.gnowledge.org/ and http://www.gnoware.org /
He will be staying at ECCO, VUB as visiting scientist until the
end of August. He is currently engaged in writing about four
metasystem transitions:
- from matter to living matter
- from living matter to cognitive systems
- from cognitive systems to conscious cognitive systems
- from folklore to science.
ECCO seminar programme coming weeks
This is the first in a series of ECCO seminars by Dr. Nagarjuna.
The next one will be on:
- Muscularity of Mind: Towards an Explanation of the Transition from Unconscious to Conscious.
ECCO seminars normally take place at 17h30 in room 3C204 of
the VUB Campus Etterbeek. Everyone interested is welcome. The seminars
are very interactive, with small groups (about 8-10 people). The
intention is to discuss in depth the research being proposed, and to
look for interdisciplinary connections with other ECCO-related themes.
Seminars last about two hours, after which the remaining participants
go to take a drink or a snack in the Opinio Café on the campus, to
continue the discussion in a more relaxed setting.
--
Francis Heylighen
"Evolution, Complexity and Cognition" research group
Free University of Brussels
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html
