Nick, It sounds like your proposal aims to digitize a completely non-linear analog process. Is there any hope that a mathematical characterization such as you describe has a chance of being robust enough to produce anything more than a "cartoon" representation of emotional behavior?
--Doug On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 10:47 AM, Nicholas Thompson < [email protected]> wrote: > Steve, > > Oh, Wow! > > You wrote: > > *My interest as a Visualization Scientist (Trained in Physics/Math, > practiced in CS/CE and focused mostly on the range of topics revolving > around synthesized perceptual spaces for exploration, discovery and analysis > of (possibly complex) phenomena) is in the formalization of Metaphor (Thus > Analogy Making as Perception and Category Theory models of Cognition.) I'm > also convinced that it has application to Agency (what really good, deep, > Agents should have?)* > We (Eric Charles Lee Rudlolph, and collaborators) are trying to resubmit > (favorable review first time around but not quite favorable enough) on the > mathematical characterization (via "configuration spaces") of emotional > behavior ("expression", if you must). The idea is to mathematically > describe visual displays that people respond to emotionally and then tweak > the maths to produce what we ethologists call "super normal stimuli" > > Would you have any interest in this project? We had thought perhaps to run > some part of it through the Complex. > > Nick > > Nicholas S. Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, > Clark University ([email protected]) > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > http://www.cusf.org [City University of Santa Fe] > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Steve Smith <[email protected]> > *To: *The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group<[email protected]> > *Sent:* 4/10/2010 8:35:24 AM > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] invitation + introduction > > John > > Owen > Thanks for asking the question. In my answer, below, I describe the technical > terminology impressionistically. If you want more precision, the Wikipedia > articles are usually pretty good at giving precise definitions, along with > some sense of the underlying ideas. > > > > Very good summary of Category Theory (CT)... very accessible and intuitive > (for anyone who already knows what groups, rings, etc. are ;) > > Category theory has been mentioned several times, especially in the early > days of friam. Could you help us out and discuss how it could be applied > here? CT certainly looks fascinating but thus far I've failed to grasp it. > I'd love a concrete example (like how to address Rosen's world) of it's use, > and possibly a good introduction (book, article). > > > I'm left wondering how you might think it applies to Complex Adaptive > Systems (CAS)? > > > My colleagues, Dr. Tom Caudell (UNM) and Dr. Michael Healy (UW emeritus) > are working on a theory of Neural Architectures based on Category Theory > http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1568850 > http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1704175.1704367 > http://www.ece.unm.edu/~mjhealy/Healy-LOR-rev.pdf > > that begins to encroach on the application of CT to CAS . > > This fits with Leigh's announcement of Melanie's talk, or at least > Melanie's seminal work in "Analogy Making as Perception". My interest as > a Visualization Scientist (Trained in Physics/Math, practiced in CS/CE and > focused mostly on the range of topics revolving around synthesized > perceptual spaces for exploration, discovery and analysis of (possibly > complex) phenomena) is in the formalization of Metaphor (Thus *Analogy > Making as Perception *and *Category Theory models of Cognition*.) I'm > also convinced that it has application to Agency (what really good, deep, > Agents should have?) > > I've read through Jocelyn Paine's compilation of her own exposition in this > area: > http://www.j-paine.org/why_be_interested_in_categories.html > > and find it motivating but beyond my limited capabilities. > > However, Jocelyn's expose on how Excel Spreadsheets have motivated her to > investigate Category Theory and getting to that was worth the effort of > reading it through to the end! > > I look forward to more unfolding on the application of Category Theory to > CAS here... if it has legs anyway. > > - Steve > > > > >
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