Steve,
I cannot, I MUST not, at this time, take the time to adequately respond to the paper, however much it interests me, which it does, alot. However, I have skimmed it and think I might have a brief contribution. There are two terms that are not nailed down, so far as I could see, in my skimming. First, I wonder what the authors mean by a pragmatic understanding. I hope they mean an understanding of the term that will bear weight, over time, as we work with it. If they just mean operational, then I am not on board. Second, authors are ambiguous in their use of the term emergent. They talk about emergent structures and emergent properties. Best, I think to follow Wimsatt and confine its use to those properties of an aggregate that arise not simply from the properties of the members of an aggregate but from their order of assembly or their arrangement in the aggregate. I would call such a definition pragmatic, or even "practicial", in the sense that opens the door to further systematic exploration. Nick Nick Thompson <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ From: Friam <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Steve Smith Sent: Saturday, May 8, 2021 8:57 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Morphogenisis Nick - Second, which of these two models encapsulates more closely what you wizards mean by computation. Is carrying out an algorithm more like "computation" or is "building a limb"? Is a salamander's limb "computed"? If so, who computes it, or is that a violation of the language of computation. I know. Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread. I know that Susan has done a lot of more up to date and relevant work in the area of bio-inspired computing and I haven't followed it all nor do I fully appreciate what she meant when she once told me that "Embryology" was the most inspiring area in that regard that she was working with. I'll find a more up to date material I hope, but *this* 2003 white-paper might be of some interest... https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/bib/ss/nonstd/rsrae03.htm
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