In philosophy, the computational theory of mind is the view that the human mind is best conceived as an information processing system and that thought is a form of computation. Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. An information processor or information processing system, as its name suggests is a System (be it Electrical, Mechanical or Biological Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both Computation is a general term for any type of Information processing. The theory was proposed in its modern form by Hilary Putnam in 1961 and developed by Jerry Fodor in the 60s and 70s. Hilary Whitehall Putnam (born July 31 1926 is an American Philosopher who has been a central figure in Western philosophy since the 1960s especially in Philosophy Jerry Alan Fodor (born 1935 in New York City, New York) is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. [1] This view is common in modern cognitive psychology and is presumed by theorists of evolutionary psychology. Cognitive psychology is a branch of Psychology that investigates internal mental processes such as problem solving memory and language Evolutionary psychology ( EP) attempts to explain mental and psychological traits such as Memory, Perception,
In the first half of the 20th century, behaviorists and social constructionists addressed the problem of inner mental events indirectly, either by focusing on behavior or on culture. [2] Beginning in the 1950s, cognitive psychology developed the computational theory of the mind, explaining inner mental events as information, computation, and feedback. [2] Beliefs and memories are information, thinking and planning are computation, while wanting and trying are feedback mechanisms. [2]
Evolutionary psychologists describe the computed mind as modular, composed of structures (roughly, instincts) that each evolved to solve a particular problem in our evolutionary past. These evolved psychological mechanisms (EPMs) define a fundamental human nature. Social constructionists describe the mind as more homogeneous, each with the capacity to be shaped, or programmed, by culture into almost any personal identity.
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"Computer metaphor"
Computational theory is not the same as the computer metaphor, according to which the mind literally works like a computer. [2] Computational theory just uses some of the same principles as those found in digital computing. [2]
Prominent scholars
- Richard Dawkins affirmed sociobiology's description of human instincts as evolved, and proposed "memes" as a units of cultural replication, analogous to genes. Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941 is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and Popular science These memes replicate under selection pressure, as genes do, and memes have co-evolved with genes for millions of years. Memes are like software for the computational mind.
- Daniel Dennett proposed the "Multiple Drafts" hypothesis, in which consciousness seems linear but is actually blurry and gappy, distributed over space and time in the brain. Daniel Clement Dennett (born March 28 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a prominent American philosopher whose research Consciousness is the computation, there is no extra step or "Cartesian Theater" in which you become conscious of the computation.
- Jerry Fodor argues that mental states, such as beliefs and desires, are relations between individuals and mental representations. Jerry Alan Fodor (born 1935 in New York City, New York) is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. He maintains that these representations can only be correctly explained in terms of a language of thought (LOT) in the mind. Further, this language of thought itself is codified in the brain, not just a useful explanatory tool. Fodor adheres to a species of functionalism, maintaining that thinking and other mental processes consist primarily of computations operating on the syntax of the representations that make up the language of thought.
- David Marr proposed that cognitive processes have three levels of description: the computational level (which describes that computational problem (i. David Courtnay Marr ( January 19, 1945 - November 17, 1980) was a British Neuroscientist and Psychologist. e. , input/output mapping) computed by the cognitive process); the algorithmic level (which presents the algorithm used for computing the problem postulated at the computational level); and the implementational level (which describes the physical implementation of the algorithm postulated at the algorithmic level in biological matter, e. g. the brain). (Marr 1981)
- Ulric Neisser coined the term 'cognitive psychology' in his book published in 1967 (Cognitive Psychology), wherein Neisser characterizes people as dynamic information-processing systems whose mental operations might be described in computational terms. Ulric Neisser (born 8 December 1928) is an American Psychologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Steven Pinker described a "language instinct," an evolved, built-in capacity to learn speech (if not writing). Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18 1954 is a prominent Canadian - American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author His work is directly contradicted by renowned linguist Noam Chomsky, who describes the language instinct not as evolved directly but as arisen as a by-product of some other evolved feature, probably involving brain size and structure. Avram Noam Chomsky (noʊm ˈtʃɑmski born December 7 1928 is an American linguist, Philosopher, cognitive scientist, Political
- Hilary Putnam proposed functionalism to describe consciousness, asserting that it is the computation that equates to consciousness, regardless of whether the computation is operating in a brain, in a computer, or in a "brain in a vat. Hilary Whitehall Putnam (born July 31 1926 is an American Philosopher who has been a central figure in Western philosophy since the 1960s especially in Philosophy "
Computationalism and the simulation hypothesis
The Computational Theory of Mind is relevant to the simulation hypothesis in that it illustrates how a simulation could contain conscious subjects, as required by a "virtual people" simulation. The Simulation Hypothesis proposes that Reality is in fact a Simulation of which those affected by the simulants are generally unaware Simulated reality is the proposition that Reality could be simulated—perhaps by Computer simulation —to a degree indistinguishable from "true" Reality For example, it is well known that physical systems can be simulated to some degree of accuracy. If computationalism leads us to discover principles which allow us to overcome the problems in generating artificial consciousness, it would raise questions about the possibility of a simulated reality. The term hard problem of consciousness, coined by David Chalmers, refers to the "hard problem" of explaining why we have qualitative phenomenal experiences strong AI Artificial consciousness (AC also known as machine consciousness (MC or synthetic consciousness, is a field related to Artificial intelligence However, the relationship between cognition and phenomenal consciousness is disputed. " Qualia " (ˈkwɑːliə is "an unfamiliar term for something that could not be more familiar to each of us the ways things seem to us" Philosophy of artificial intelligence The Chinese Room argument comprises a Thought experiment and associated Arguments by John Searle, who attempts It is possible that consciousness requires a substrate of "real" physics, and simulated people, while behaving appropriately, would be philosophical zombies. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the A philosophical Zombie, p-zombie or p-zed is a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except that it lacks conscious
See also
Notes
- ^ Horst, Steven, (2005) "The Computational Theory of Mind" in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- ^ a b c d e Pinker, Steven. In Psychology, cognitivism is a theoretical approach in understanding the mind which argues that mental function can be understood by quantitative, positivist Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties Functionalism is a memory of a philosophical basis for much empirical research in Psychology and Cognitive science, which says that “ Mental states Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18 1954 is a prominent Canadian - American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author The Blank Slate. The Blank Slate The Modern Denial of Human Nature is a best-selling 2002 book by Steven Pinker arguing against Tabula rasa models of the Social sciences New York: Penguin. 2002
References
- Jerry Fodor (1975) The Language of thought. Jerry Alan Fodor (born 1935 in New York City, New York) is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. Jerry A Fodor 's Language of Thought (LOT hypothesis states that Cognition and cognitive processes are
- David Marr (1981) Vision. David Courtnay Marr ( January 19, 1945 - November 17, 1980) was a British Neuroscientist and Psychologist.
- Zenon Pylyshyn (1984) Computation and Cognition
- Stevan Harnad (1994) Computation Is Just Interpretable Symbol Manipulation: Cognition Isn't. Zenon Pylyshyn (born 1937) is a Canadian Cognitive scientist and Philosopher. Professor Stevan Harnad (Hernád István Hesslein István is a cognitive scientist who was born in Budapest, Hungary. Minds and Machines 4: 379-390.
External links
- A Computational Foundation for the Study of Cognition by David Chalmers
- Computationalism: The Very Idea, an overview of computationalism by David Davenport. David John Chalmers (born April 20, 1966) is a Philosopher in the area of Philosophy of mind.
- The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on the computational theory
- The Cognitive Process Consciousness model of the Mind
- Fodor, The Mind Doesn't Work that Way
- Collection of links to online papers
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