Re: Biological = trivial?

John McCreery (jlm@TWICS.COM)
Tue, 13 Aug 1996 20:09:34 +0900

>From Danny Yee

>Read writes,
>> >A generative program can be written only if there is already comprehension
>> >of the phenomena in question.
>
>John McCreery <jlm@TWICS.COM> writes:
>> My memories of working as an AI programmer suggest a slightly different
>> conclusion. The first iteration of a program requires *some* comprehension
>> to get off the ground.
>
>What about a neural net?
>
>(I've finally got around to following up your reccommendation of
>Churchland's _The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul_.)
>
>Danny.

Damn good question. I've heard it said that neural nets operate without
presuppositions. I still don't quite understand how it works.

The Churchland I was recommending was _Neurophilosophy_ (1992). Is _The
Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul_ more recent?


John McCreery
3-206 Mitsusawa HT, 25-2 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama 220, JAPAN

"And the Lord said unto Cyrus, 'Shall the clay say to him who moldest it,
what makest thou? Let the potsherd of the earth speak to the potsherd of
the earth." --An anthropologist's credo