if you ignore the fact that it was written in 1988 and reflects only what I knew then, I will send you a pdf of the appropriate chapter of the dissertation.
davew On Thu, Dec 24, 2020, at 1:06 PM, glen∉ℂ wrote: > > Excellent! Ignoring your vTAO for a second, I distinguish culture from > a psychogenic delusion by its exogenous inputs. Culture, as I imagine > it, is *definitely* derived from the actual world, whereas a > psychogenic delusion *may* not be. > > On to your vTAO, I like the construction. But to pursue it as a > mechanism, I'd want it to talk a bit about the coupling between the > layers. E.g. between the core and culture, it seems clear that > biological evolution is slower than cultural evolution. (Though with > all the new data about microbiomes in our gut, on our skin, etc, as > well as epigentics, it's not *that* clear.) That relative rate > difference implies a loose coupling. *If* we can say/show that the > coupling is *very* loose, such that one layer can have more or fewer > degrees of freedom, *then* we might get to psychogenesis. We could also > use error or randomness to do that. > > On 12/24/20 9:05 AM, Prof David West wrote: > > This is not about populism per se, but about your formulations. > > > > The very first post made we wonder how you would differentiate between a > > mass delusion and culture — other than put them on some kind of continuum > > or making the first a subset of the latter. None of your subsequent posts > > dealing with 'mechanisms/formulations' clarified this question. > > > > An alternative mechanism/formulation you might consider: the vTAO or > > virtual Adaptive Topographic Organism. > > > > You have never heard of this before because it was a model I proposed in my > > doctoral dissertation and I never had the chance to followup or > > operationalize the model because I was hired to teach software development. > > > > My problem was how culture affected cognition. The model starts with the > > Hopfield metaphor of a neural net: raindrops (inputs) falling on a > > topography (established by connection weights) and being channeled to low > > points (outputs). The topography was shaped by learning and adjustment of > > the weights. > > > > I extended this metaphor/model but making connection weights a function of > > the "constancy" of the inputs; with constancy being a combination of > > frequency and consistency. A feedback loop was established with the outputs > > altering the environment and altering the constancy of the inputs. > > > > Trivial example: you paint the inside of your house red (output) and that > > increases the constancy of receiving 'red' inputs. > > > > The metaphor/model was extended with seven 'layers' of topography: e.g. a > > core layer where the constancy is established simply by being carbon=based > > lifeforms, to culture shaping the gross geographic features, the > > penultimate layer of habit being akin to watershed, and the final layer > > being more or less intentional thought / free will / decision making etc. > > > > In my mind's eye I can see how the vTAO is consistent with, supportive of, > > the mechanisms/formulations in your posts, but that might just be misplaced > > pride in authorship. > > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
