Hacking the Cosmos:Affordance-based Reverse Engineering of Natural Systems

Dominic Halsmer, PhD, PE, at ASA Annual Meeting, 7/23/16

Untitled,

Anonymous,

Wood

Engraving

First Published

by Camille

Flammarion in

L'Atmosphère:

Météorologie

Populaire (Paris,

1888), pp. 163

with the captionA medieval missionary tells that he has found the point where heaven and Earth meet...

Topics for Discussion

1. Define Affordance, with Examples in

Artificial & Natural Systems

2. Origin of Affordances - Psychology

3. Affordances & Niche Construction

4. Affordances in Engineering

5. Advantages of Affordances

6. Affordance-based Reverse

Engineering (ARE)

7. Philosophical Implications, Examples

Engineers Create Affordances

Affordances: Relationships that result in capabilities

J. Maier proposes the

concept of affordance

(what a system

provides to an end-

user, or what one part

of the system provides

to another part)…

as an underlying and

unifying principle in

the science of product

design, & reverse

engineering.

“Rethinking Design Theory” by J. Maier Mechanical Engineering, September, 2008

Affordance – Capability a

creature has by virtue of its

relationship to its environment.

Koffka writes that affordances

are directly perceived in nature.

Things “tell us what to do with

them…Each thing says what it is

…a fruit says ‘Eat me’;

water says ‘Drink me’;

thunder says ‘Fear me’;

and woman says ‘Love me’.”

“Affordance” in Psychology (relationship that results in a capability)

Gender-neutral, 21st Century

Update: People say, “Love me”

What a person

desires is unfailing

love.

- Proverbs 19:22

Niche – Set of Affordances

Niche – The function or purpose of a species

within an ecological community, including

the environment to which it has become

adapted, as well as its role as producer &

consumer of food resources.

“the concept of affordance might

also help to clarify the process of

niche construction…what this

process actually consists in at a

behavioral level is the perception,

utilization, destruction and

creation of affordances…Dr. Rob Withagen

Affordances & Adaptation

…Indeed, in constructing a niche, animals

perceive and utilize affordances and by so

doing create and destroy other action

possibilities.

Hence, an affordance-analysis cannot only

help in clarifying how the niche is

constructed, it also helps in understanding

what the modification of a niche consists in.

Indeed, animals bring about changes in the

affordance layout and this modified layout is

passed on to the offspring.”

Affordances are Directly Perceived

– James Gibson

“Learning about affordances entails

exploratory activities” –Eleanor Gibson

An ecological approach to normatively,Patrizio Lo Presti, Adaptive Behavior 24(1), 2016, 9.

"According to Gibson, the set of

affordances of a kind of animal

in relation to its environment constitute

that kind of animal's niche.

The niche of a group of agents is not

their physical environment, or where

they live. Nor is it the phenomenal

environment as privately, subjectively

experienced. It is how they live -- their

shared "ways of life"

An ecological approach to normatively,Patrizio Lo Presti, Adaptive Behavior 24(1), 2016, 10.

"I suggest that Gibson's notion of a

niche should be expanded so that it

refers not just to functional ways of life,

to how organisms live,

but also to normative ways of life, to how

to live correctly.

In this, I follow Rietveld and Kiverstein

(2014) in arguing that affordances

provide a normative dimension

associated with social practices."

Affordances Invite!

“Affordances are not mere

action possibilities but that they

can also invite behavior.”

R. Withagen, H. de Poel, D. Araujo, and G.

Pepping, “Affordances Can Invite Behavior:

Reconsidering the Relationship between

Affordances and Agency,” New Ideas in

Psychology, 20 (2012), 250-258.

Affordances in Engineering

“An affordance is a relationship

between the properties of an

object and the capabilities of the

agent that determine just how the

object could possibly be used…

affordances provide strong clues

to the operation of things.”

Don Norman, The Design of

Everyday Things, revised and

expanded edition (New York,

Basic Books, 2013), 11, 13.

Affordances & Signifiers

“Good design requires…good

communication of the purpose,

structure, and operation of the

device to the people who use it.

That is the role of the signifier.”

For Norman, the term signifier

refers to any perceivable

indicator that communicates

appropriate behavior to a

person.

Norman, Design of Everyday

Things, 14.

Sequential & Nested Affordances

“Sequential affordances explain how

affordances can be revealed over time;

nested affordances describe affordances

that are grouped in space…

The role of a good interface [between

engineered system and user] is to guide

attention via well-designed groups of

sequential and nested affordances.”

These interdependent affordances not

only reflect good design, but also provide

important clues for reverse engineering.

Gaver, “Technology Affordances,” 82.

Dr. William

Gaver

Nested Hierarchy

Sub-atomic Particles

Atoms

Molecules

Biomolecules

Amino Acids

Proteins, DNA, etc

Organelles, structures, etc

Cells

Tissues

Organs

Human body

Nested Fractal Narratives“Evolution, Suffering & the Creative Love of God,” B. Sollereder, PSCF June 2016

Eleonore Stump, Wandering in Darkness:

Narrative and the Problem of Suffering

(Oxford, Clarendon, 2010), 219-26, 466-67.

Affordances are Signs!

“The characteristic reflexivity of human cognition

means that we are not only able to perceive the

world as it is,…

but also to perceive affordances that do not yet

exist, that is, to perceive the world as if it were

otherwise…

and hence we may take meaningful, intentional

action to bring it about if we so choose.”

He adds that, “nature is a harmonious sign

system,” and that affordances are signs that are

indicative of meaning.

John Pickering, “Affordances Are Signs,” tripleC 5, 2 (2007), 64-74.

Affordance-based Reverse Engineering

Affordance-based design is

a “relational theory for

design since it helps to

“explain the entanglement

between designers, users,

and [engineered] artifacts.”

He also proposes “an

affordance-based method

for reverse engineering and

redesign.”

Affordances Exhibit Complementarity

Affordances Exhibit Polarity

Multiplicity of Affordances

Affordances Exhibit Quality

Objectivity of Affordances

In the article, “Affordances: An Ecological

Approach to First Philosophy,” philosopher John

Sanders argues that affordances “offer a

conceptual tool of exceptional value in the

construction of a positive theory of embodied

agency [i.e. humanity], and of its philosophical

consequences.”

He claims that affordances “deserve to be given a

leading role in…first philosophy.”

“First philosophy” deals with the fundamental

type of being or substance upon which all others

depend, and with the most fundamental causes.

Objectivity of Affordances

Why should affordances enjoy such a

prominent place in understanding reality?

Sanders writes, “while ontology [the study

of being] must be relativized to what

different observers can do in terms of

affordances, this is no mere matter of what

the observer thinks or believes.

It is a function of what the observer can do,

and this may be as objective a matter as

anyone could hope.”

Neutrality of Affordances

Jonathan Maier is very

forward-thinking in

recognizing the neutrality of

affordances in philosophy.

He summarizes the conflict

between “evolutionists” and

“creationists” as arising

from the tendency to

ascribe function or purpose

to organisms or their

subsystems.

Neutrality of Affordances

He writes, “Hence evolutionists and

creationists have a difficult time having an

intelligent conversation, even though both

may agree on basic scientific facts and

perhaps even a belief in a Supreme Being.

One of their principal points of contention

is the attribution of function and purpose,

which goes deeper than just body

parts…Once again, an affordance based

view of these systems can be used to

resolve this apparent dilemma.”

Neutrality of Affordances

Maier goes on to remind us that although the

function or purpose of any natural system is

inherently subjectively defined, the affordances of

any natural system can be objectively defined.

“For example, while an evolutionist may not say

that the function of a brain is to think, while a

creationist would certainly say that it is, they could

both agree to the fact that brains afford thinking…

Both the possibilities of an intelligent designer (to

the chagrin of evolutionists) and of natural design

(to the chagrin of creationists) are equally

admissible.”

Conclusions

Affordances represent a unifying concept for

reverse engineering in biology, and all of nature.

Affordances allow for metaphysically neutral

language in keeping with the domain and limits of

science.

Affordances facilitate understanding of the big

picture of organisms within their environment.

Nested part-to-part affordances have the potential

to help in handling, visualizing and perhaps

quantifying, complexity.

Affordance-based reverse engineering can help in

addressing life’s big questions.