*Please distribute to others who may be interested...* You are hereby invited to the next weekly seminar in our interdisciplinary series on Evolution, Complexity and Cognition<http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/108>(ECCO) and theGlobal Brain Institute<http://www.globalbraininstitute.org/>(GBI).
*Time*:* Friday, October 12th, *14:00-16:00 p.m *Place*: *Room 3B217 * (building B, level 3, From the elevator take the long corridor to the right, to its end), on the VUB Campus Etterbeek (Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels), Free entrance: everybody welcome! * * ------------------------------ Simplicity Theory: Why did human brains specialize in detecting abnormal order? *Jean-Louis Dessalles* <http://www.dessalles.fr>* (School of Telecom, ParisTech)*** Abstract: Human beings devote some two hours each day on average to reporting events, through conversational narratives. This behaviour is unique in the animal kingdom. Simplicity Theory offers a formal characterization of what makes an event narratable. Interesting events (exceptions, deviations from norms, coincidences, rarities, emotional situations...) all share the property of offering abnormal order: they are *less complex* than anticipated. Complexity drop (simplicity) seems to be a key determining factor, not only of interest, but also of aesthetics and of emotional intensity. Why did human beings evolve a sense of simplicity? Bibliography: Dessalles, J-L. (2008). *La pertinence et ses origines cognitives - Nouvelles théories.* Paris: Hermes-Science Publications. pertinence.dessalles.fr Dessalles, J-L. (2009). *Why we talk - The evolutionary origins of language*(2nd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. www.dessalles.fr/WWT/ ------------------------------ * Forthcoming ECCO/GBI seminars* *Winter 2012-2013* *October 19 * *Olivier Auber<http://perspective-numerique.net/wakka.php?wiki=OlivierAuber> *(Former research engineer, Telecom ParisTech digital-perspective.net) *The poietic generator: A net experience for cognitive research<http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/194> * * October 26 * *Csermely Péter <http://www.linkgroup.hu/petercsermely.php>* (LINK-Group, Semmelweis University, Department of Medical Chemistry) *Modular evolution and adaptation in complex systems<http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/195> * * November 2 * Academic Holiday no Seminar * November 9 * *Rob van Kranenburg<http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/content/rob-van-kranenburg> * *The Internet of Things - a proactive approach<http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/188> * * November 16 * Henri Waelbroeck <[email protected]> The financial market as an algorithmic “global brain” – <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/192> a view from the field of market impact modeling <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/192> *November 23 * TBA * November 30 * *Juho Salminen <http://lut.academia.edu/JuhoSalminen> *(Lappeenranta University of Technology) SuperCrowdsource Me * December 7 * *Joël de Rosnay <http://www.derosnay.com>* TBA * December 14 * *Ben Goertzel <http://wp.goertzel.org/?page_id=58>* General Artificial Intelligence and the Global Brain * December 17 (Monday) * Johan Bollen <http://informatics.indiana.edu/jbollen/Home.html> (Indiana University) TBA More info about the ECCO seminar program: http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/108 -- David R. Weinbaum (Weaver) ECCO/GBI Seminar Coordinator Email: [email protected] http://clea.academia.edu/DavidWeinbaum
