Relevance Communication And Cognition

Individuals: An Essay in Descriptive Metaphysics

How To Do Things With Words.

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

The emergence of electronic computers in the last thirty years has given rise to many interesting questions. Many of these questions are technical, relating to a machine’s ability to perform complex operations in a variety of circumstances. While some of these questions are not without philosophical interest, the one question which above all others has stimulated philosophical interest is explicitly non-technical and it can be expressed crudely as follows: Can a machine be said to think and, if so, in what sense? The issue has received much attention in the scholarly journals with articles and arguments appearing in great profusion, some resolutely answering this question in the affirmative, some, equally resolutely, answering this question in the negative, and others manifesting modified rapture. While the ramifications of the question are enormous I believe that the issue at the heart of the matter has gradually emerged from the forest of complications. It is easy to answer the question “Can machines/computers think?” Easy, that is, once we know with some degree of precision what thinking is, what machine/computers are, and, last but not least, how to understand the word “can.” The possibility of answering the question, “Can a computer think?” is rendered either question-beggingly trivial or mind-bogglingly impossible unless one is able to give some independent signification to its key terms. To define a computer as a sort of machine, and then to define machine in such a narrow way that it becomes meaningless to ask if it thinks viciously begs the question unless the definitions can be given independent justification. Of course, a similar consideration applies to arguments in favour of artificial intelligence. I assume that the majority of those who would put this question intend by “think” something like

https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/5469/1/Minds_and_Machines.pdf

Minds and machines

We examined the role of subjective temporal distance in people's future self-predictions. Consistent with temporal self-appraisal theory, we hypothesized that people would be motivated to evaluate future selves more favorably when they felt closer in time, because subjectively close future selves have more direct implications for current identity than do subjectively distant future selves. Subjective temporal distance of a future self was manipulated, holding constant actual temporal distance. Participants predicted more favorable personal qualities (Study 1) at a future time that seemed close rather than distant. Supporting a self-enhancement account, subjective distance effects were specific to appraisals of future self but not acquaintances (Study 2), and the link between subjective distance and future self-appraisals was eliminated when participants satisfied their self-image goals via a self-affirmation exercise (Study 3). Study 4 provided evidence that subjectively close future selves influence current identity to a greater extent than do distant selves: Participants evaluated their current selves more positively when feeling close to, rather than distant from, a future success. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Basking in projected glory: The role of subjective temporal distance in future self-appraisal

The sense of “Presence” (evolving from “telepresence”) has always been associated with virtual reality research and is still an exceptionally mystifying constituent. Now the study of presence clearly spans over various disciplines associated with cognition. This paper attempts to put forth a concept that argues that it’s an experience of an “Evoked Reality (ER)” (illusion of reality) that triggers an “Evoked Presence (EP)” (sense of presence) in our minds. A Three Pole Reality Model is proposed to explain this phenomenon. The poles range from Dream Reality to Simulated Reality with Primary (Physical) Reality at the center. To demonstrate the relationship between ER and EP, a Reality-Presence Map is developed. We believe that this concept of ER and the proposed model may have significant applications in the study of presence, and in exploring the possibilities of not just virtual reality but also what we call “reality.”

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Achieving Presence through Evoked Reality

In the present enterprise we take a look at the meaning of Autonomy, how the word has been employed and some of the consequences of its use in the sciences of the artificial. Could and should robots really be autonomous entities? Over and beyond this, we use concepts from the philosophy of mind to spur on enquiry into the very essence of human autonomy. We believe our initiative, as does Dennett's life-long research, sheds light upon the problems of robot design with respect to their relation with humans.

Robots, Dennett and the autonomous: a terminological investigation

Since simulating human communication is dependant on the evolution of this very activity, all efforts in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) are intuitively bound to be too late. Little sign of this fact is reflected in the literature. In stride with the foresight of French philosopher Francis Jacques, the present work explores the systemological approach of dialogism as a new way of couching the problem of person-machine “dialogue.” The difficulties encountered in the “heat of design” are only indirectly addressed; shedding light upon standard new interface = new solution philosophies implicit in current bipolar metaphors for human-computer relationships is the major motivation. The posture taken differs from current HCI stances insofar as a machine is taken to be only part of the solution, and works towards establishing a viewpoint from which HCI technology—a chapter of the new Cognitive Science Order—is seen to evolve with the ever-changing demands of users: Dialogism contains no individuality. Popular stances are qualified as monological since two separate incompatible information processing systems are therein put forth, the “Self” and the “Other.” But the particularity of this “communication” does not lie in the chain of emission, transmission, and reception states of which it is made, but in the relevance that such behavior acquires in sustaining the biological circularity of Man. Thus as humans developing designership skills, accepting that our subjectivity moderates this process becomes paramount. The author's conviction is that an HCI community reflecting upon the future of interface will gain bona fide self-awareness from conceptualizing the Machine as a component of society, rather than an entity separate from it. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The systemics of dialogism: on the prevalence of the self in HCI design

A number of existing innovation paradigms and design approaches such as Open Innovation (Chesbrough, 2003), User Experience (Hassenzahl & Tractinsky, 2006) and User-Centred Design (Von Hippel, 2005), as well as User-Centred Open Innovation Ecosystems (Pallot, 2009a) are promoting distributed collaboration among organisations and user communities. However, project stakeholders are mainly trained for improving their individual skills through learning experience (i.e. practical exercises, role playing game) rather than getting a live user experience through immersive environments (e.g. Virtual Reality, Serious Games) that could unleash their creativity potential. This chapter introduces the findings of a study on serious gaming, which discusses various aspects of games and explores a number of issues related to the use of innovation games for enabling user co-creation in the context of collaborative innovation and experiential Living Labs.

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Colin Schmidt

Papers

Basking in projected glory: The role of subjective temporal distance in future self-appraisal

Achieving Presence through Evoked Reality

Robots, Dennett and the autonomous: a terminological investigation

The systemics of dialogism: on the prevalence of the self in HCI design

Innovation Gaming: An Immersive Experience Environment Enabling Co-creation