CDT403 Research Methodology in Natural Sciences and Engineering

Theory of ScienceINFORMATION COMPUTATIONINFORMATION, COMPUTATION,

KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENCE

Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic

School of Innovation, Design and Engineering

Mälardalen University 1

Science, Knowledge, Information and Computation

Science is (a well formed) knowledge structure.

Knowledge is (a well formed) information structureKnowledge is (a well formed) information structure.

Information is (a well formed) data structure.

All of them are the result of our interaction with the real world / with the universe. Our current ability of yinteraction with the world is a result of a long evolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_evolutionary_history_of_life

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ3401XVYww&NR=1 The Miracle in Human Brain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RbPQG9WTZM Evolution, no miracle! - The Origin of the Brain

Agent-Dependent RealityOur interactions with the real world are observer-dependent, depend on what we are - what sensors, actuators and information processing capabilities we haveinformation processing capabilities we have.

Information /data structures that we develop throughout ourlives depend on our physical architecture and the environmentlives depend on our physical architecture and the environment, and thus are observer (agent)-dependent.

Knowledge is observer-dependent (contextual).g p ( )

Science is agent-dependent but definitely not arbitrary!g p y yTwo observers with close enough hardware and background information/knowledge will have similar understanding of the same phenomena. We agree on majority of basic things.

3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2iJF2I94pg The Human Brain: How We Decide

Agent-Dependent Reality

Meaning is use. (Wittgenstein)[for an agent!]

Communities of practice share meanings.

Consesnsus and controversy areConsesnsus and controversy aretwo major driving forcesin the development of sciencesand human knowledge in generaland human knowledge in general.Science is in a constant process of development.Otto E. Rössler, Endophysics: the world as an interface, p yhttp://books.google.com/books?id=0ckVNqhg3mkC&printsec=frontcover&hl=sv&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

How does the brain (as a part of a body) provides this interface? See the following:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXkS-MTYCI&feature=related Brain Evolution: The Accidental Mind (I)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8RNq7DiMTs&feature=related Brain Evolution: The Accidental Mind (II)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEEXK3A57Hk&feature=related The Origin of Intelligence

SCIENCE: THE BIG PICTUREScience and the UniverseThe Mytho-Poetic UniverseThe Medieval Divine Geocentric UniverseTh Cl k k (M h i ti ) U iThe Clockwork (Mechanistic) UniverseThe Computational Universe

Info-ComputationalismpInformationComputationNatural computation – beyond Turing ModelNaturalist Understanding of Cognitionatu a st U de sta d g o Cog t oInfo-Computational Knowlede Generation

Science, Knowledge, Truth and MeaningS iScienceScientific MethodKnowledge and its production in simplest organisms and in networks

Th N E i N t ki P diThe New, Emerging, Networking Paradigm5

Science: The Big Picture Firstg

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Science and the Universe

htt // id di ld / id /12812/C i S Zhttp://www.videopediaworld.com/video/12812/Cosmic-Super-Zoom orhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9PnJkB1RGU Cosmic Super Zoom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2fsNkAnzEI&feature=related p yMEGA ZOOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPkPaHI2Usg Cosmic Voyage from your Quarks to the Edge of the Universeyour Quarks to the Edge of the Universe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDAUqGHl7UA&feature=relatedMicrocosmos

http://www.youtube.com/show?p=As9CDegGF-A&tracker=show0Cosmic Journeys

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The Idea of UniverseThe Idea of Universe

The universe is an idea deeply rooted in our human culture, different in different places and during different epochs. At one time it was a living organism (Tree of Life MotherAt one time, it was a living organism (Tree of Life, Mother Earth, a Turtle, a Fish), at yet another time, mechanical machinery - the Cartesian-Newtonian clockwork.

Today’s metaphor for the universe is more and more explicitly becoming a computer.

Dodig Crnkovic G., Investigations into Information Semantics and Ethics of Computing, 2006

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Universe as RealityUniverse as Reality

The universe is defined as everything that exists. According to y g gthis definition and our present understanding, the universe consists of three elements:

• space-time• matter-energy and• physical laws that govern the relationships between the two.

Those three elements correspond roughly to the ideas of Aristotle.In his book The Physics Aristotle divided everything that exists into threeelements:-- matter (the stuff of which the universe is made),-- form (the arrangement of that matter in space) and-- change (how matter is created, destroyed or altered in its properties, andsimilarly, how form is altered).Physical laws were conceived as the rules governing the properties of matter,y g g p p ,form and their changes.

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Universe as RealityUniverse as Reality

Later philosophers such as Averroes and Spinoza discern twoLater philosophers such as Averroes and Spinoza discern two basic elements:

• the passive elements the fabric of the universe (naturathe passive elements, the fabric of the universe (natura naturata)

• the active principles governing the universe acting on the former elements (natura naturans)

This compares to Info-Computational Universe (Dodig Crnkovic 2006):

• Information as structure• Computation as change

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Comment: Construction of KnowledgeComment: Construction of Knowledge

Our knowledge depends on our ways of interaction with the world –Our knowledge depends on our ways of interaction with the world –the nature and the humans as a part of natural world.

If we use scientific instruments such as microscopes telescopesIf we use scientific instruments, such as microscopes, telescopes or particle accelerators, our knowledge will be much more far reaching than if we only use our human bodily sensory organs for interaction with the world.

We construct knowledge from pieces of information we get directly from the world or indirectly via other people (again either exchanging information personally or even more indirectly from theexchanging information personally or even more indirectly from the information found in diverse kinds of documents.)

(See Dodig-Crnkovic, Constructivist Research and Info-Computational Knowledge Generation, http://www.mrtc.mdh.se/~gdc/work/MBR09ConstructiveResearch.pdf )

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HISTORY OF IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSEThe Mytho-Poetic Universe: World Egg

In the ancient Hindu Rig-Veda the universe is a cosmic egg that cycles between expansion and collapse. It expanded from a concentrated form — a point called a Bindu. The universe as a living entity isThe universe, as a living entity, is bound to the perpetual cycle of birth, death, and rebirth ...This model can be found, besides SanskritThis model can be found, besides Sanskrit scriptures and Vedanta also in Chinese, Egyptian, and Finnish (Kalevala) mythology.

12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_egghttp://www.cellularuniverse.org/UniverseModels.htm#SS1

The Medieval Geocentric Universe

From Aristotle Libri de caelo (1519). 13

The Clockwork (Mechanistic) Universe

The mechanicistic paradigm which systematically revealed physical structure in analogy with the artificial. The self-functioning automaton - basis and canon of the form of the Universebasis and canon of the form of the Universe. Newton Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Matematica, 1687

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The Computational Universe

We are all living inside a gigantic computer. No, not The Matrix: the UniverseUniverse.

Every process, every change that takes place in the Universe, may be ta es p ace t e U e se, ay beconsidered as a kind of computation. E Fredkin, S Wolfram, G Chaitin

The universe is on a fundamental level an info-computational phenomenon. GDC

http://www.nature.com/nsu/020527/020527-16.html

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The Computational Universe

Konrad Zuse was the first to suggest (in 1967) that the physical behavior of the entire universe is being computed on a basic level, g p ,possibly on cellular automata, by the universe itself which he referred to as "Rechnender Raum" or Computing Space/Cosmos.

Computationalists: Zuse, Wiener, Fredkin, Wolfram, Chaitin, Lloyd, Seife, 't Hooft, Deutsch, Tegmark, Schmidhuber, Weizsäcker, Wheeler..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ0WG3D3m1U Intelligence and the Computational Universe Pancomputationalism http://www.idt.mdh.se/personal/gdc/work/Pancomputationalism.mht

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Does The Big Picture Make AnyDoes The Big Picture Make Any Difference At All For Us In Practice?

Yes, definitely!It makes a big difference if we believe that the whole of the universe is governed by supernatural beings on which we have u e se s go e ed by supe a u a be gs o c e a ehardly any influence or if we believe that humans create their own world to a high extent.

The understanding of the universe as organic or mechanisticThe understanding of the universe as organic or mechanistic influences our believes and actions.

Today the big ideal is PROGRESS, EVOLUTION and CONSTANT IMPROVEMENTIMPROVEMENT.In the past there were civilizations that avoided change for millennia. In those eras the STABILITY and PERMANENCY was the highest principle. g p p

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However, no model is reality itself as no map is as , y pdetailed as a territory – for quite obvious reasons!

R. Magritte – The two misteriesR. Magritte – This is not a pipe

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Info-Computationalism as a FrameworkInformation and computation are two interrelated and mutually defining phenomena – there is no computation without information (computation understood as information processing), and vice

th i i f ti ith t t ti ( ll i f tiversa, there is no information without computation (all information is a result of computational processes).

Being interconnected information is studied as a structure whileBeing interconnected, information is studied as a structure, while computation presents a process on an informational structure. In order to learn about foundations of information, we must also study computation.p

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Information

A special issue of the Journal of Logic, Language and Information (Volume 12 No 4 2003) dedicated to the different facets of informationdedicated to the different facets of information.

A Handbook on the Philosophy of Information (Van Benthem, Adriaans) is in preparation as one volume Handbook of the philosophy of science. http://www.illc.uva.nl/HPI/

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ComputationThe Computing Universe: Pancomputationalism

Computation is generally defined as information processing.(S B i M S R i Al ith S i M h(See Burgin, M., Super-Recursive Algorithms, Springer Monographs in Computer Science, 2005)

For different views see e.g.http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/mds26/cogsci/program.html Computation and Cognitive Science 7–8 July 2008, King's College Cambridge

The definition of computation is widely debated, and an entire issue of the journal Minds and Machines (1994, 4, 4) was devoted to the question “What is Computation?” Even: Theoretical Computer Science 317 (2004)

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Present Model of Computation: Turing MachinePresent Model of Computation: Turing Machine

............Tape

Read-Write headControl Unit

Tape

1. Reads a symbol2. Writes a symbol3. Moves Left or Right

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing-machine/

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Computing Nature and Nat re Inspired Comp tationNature Inspired Computation

Natural computation includes computation that occurs in nature or is inspired by nature. Computing

Inspired by nature: •Evolutionary computation •Neural networks •Artificial immune systems

In 1623, Galileo in his book The Assayer - Il Saggiatore, claimed that the language of nature's book is mathematics and that the way to understand nature is

y•Swarm intelligence

Simulation and emulation of nature:F t l tmathematics and that the way to understand nature is

through mathematics. Generalizing ”mathematics” to ”computation” we may agree with Galileo – the great book of nature is an e-book!

•Fractal geometry •Artificial life

Computing with natural materials: •DNA computing p g•Quantum computing

Journals: Natural Computing and IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation. 23

Turing Machines Limitations –Self-Generating Living Systems

Complex biological systems must be modeled as self-referential, self-organizing "component-systems" (George Kampis) which are selfsystems (George Kampis) which are self-generating and whose behavior, though computational in a general sense, goes far beyond Turing machine model.

“a component system is a computer which, when executing its operations (software) builds a new hardware.... [W]e have a computer that re-wires itself in a(software) builds a new hardware.... [W]e have a computer that re wires itself in a hardware-software interplay: the hardware defines the software and the software defines new hardware. Then the circle starts again.” (Kampis, p. 223 Self-Modifying Systems in Biology and Cognitive Science)

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Beyond Turing MachinesEver since Turing proposed his machine model which identifies computation with the execution of an algorithm, there have been questions about how widely the Turing Machine (TM) model isquestions about how widely the Turing Machine (TM) model is applicable.

With the advent of computer networks, which are the main paradigm p , p gof computing today, the model of a computer in isolation, represented by a Universal Turing Machine, has become insufficient.

The basic difference between an isolated computing box and a network of computational processes (nature itself understood as a computational mechanism) is the interactivity of computation. The most general computational paradigm today is interactive computingmost general computational paradigm today is interactive computing(Wegner, Goldin).

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Beyond Turing Machines

The challenge to deal with computability in the real world (suchas computing on continuous data, biological computing/organicas computing on continuous data, biological computing/organiccomputing, quantum computing, or generally natural computing) has brought new understanding of computation.

Natural computing has different criteria for success of a computation, halting problem is not a central issue, but insteadthe adequacy of the computational response in a network ofthe adequacy of the computational response in a network of interacting computational processes/devices. In many areas, wehave to computationally model emergence not being clearlyalgorithmic. (Barry Cooper)

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Correspondence Principle Picture after Stuart A. Umpleby

http://www.gwu.edu/~umpleby/recent_papers/2004_what_i_learned_from_heinz_von_foerster_figures_by_umpleby.htm

TMNatural Computation

TM

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Info Computationalism Applied:Info-Computationalism Applied:Naturalizing Epistemology

(Understanding knowledge as a result of natural processes)

Naturalized epistemology (Feldman, Kornblith, Stich) is, in general, an idea that knowledge may be studied as a natural phenomenon --that the subject matter of epistemology is not our concept of knowledge, but the knowledge itself.

“The stimulation of his sensory receptors is all the evidence anybody h h d t lti t l i i i t hi i t f th ld Whhas had to go on, ultimately, in arriving at his picture of the world. Why not just see how this construction really proceeds? Why not settle for psychology? “("Epistemology Naturalized", Quine 1969; emphasis mine)mine)

I will re-phrase the question to be: Why not settle for computing?

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and belief.

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Naturalist Understanding of Cognition

According to Maturana and Varela (1980) even the simplest organisms possess cognition and their meaning productionorganisms possess cognition and their meaning-production apparatus is contained in their metabolism. Of course, there are also non-metabolic interactions with the environment, such as locomotion, that also generates meaning for an organism bylocomotion, that also generates meaning for an organism by changing its environment and providing new input data.

Maturana’s and Varelas’ understanding that all living organismsMaturana s and Varelas understanding that all living organisms posess some cognition, in some degree. is most suitable as the basis for a computationalist account of the naturalized evolutionary epistemologyevolutionary epistemology.

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Info-Computational Account of pKnowledge Generation

Natural computing as a new paradigm of computing goes beyond the Turing Machine model and applies to all physical processes including those going on in our brains.

The next great change in computer science andThe next great change in computer science and information technology will come from mimicking the techniques by which biological organisms process information.

To do this computer scientists must draw on expertise in subjects not usually associated with their field, including organic chemistry, molecular , g g y,biology, bioengineering, and smart materials.

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Info-Computational Account of Knowledge Generation

At the physical level, living beings are open complex computational systems in a regime on the edge of chaos, p y g g ,characterized by maximal informational content. Complexity is found between orderly systems with high information compressibility and low information content and random systems with low compressibility and high information content. (Flake)

The essential feature of cognizing living organisms is their ability g g g g yto manage complexity, and to handle complicated environmental conditions with a variety of responses which are results of adaptation, variation, selection, learning, and/or reasoning. (Gell-Mann)

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Cognition as Restructuring of an Agent in Interaction with the Environment

As a result of evolution, increasingly complex living organisms arise that are able to survive and adapt to their environment. It means they are able to register inputs (data) from the environment, to structure th i t i f ti d i d l d i i tthose into information, and in more developed organisms into knowledge. The evolutionary advantage of using structured, component-based approaches is improving response time and efficiency of cognitiveapproaches is improving response-time and efficiency of cognitive processes of an organism.

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Cognition as Restructuring of an Agent in Interaction with the Environment

Naturalized knowledge generation acknowledges the body as our basic cognitive instrument. All cognition is embodied cognition, in bothbasic cognitive instrument. All cognition is embodied cognition, in both microorganisms and humans (Gärdenfors, Stuart). In more complex cognitive agents, knowledge is built upon not only reasoning about input information, but also on intentional choices, dependent on value

t t d d i d i tsystems stored and organized in agents memory.

It is not surprising that present day interest in knowledge generation places information and computation (communication) in focus asplaces information and computation (communication) in focus, as information and its processing are essential structural and dynamic elements which characterize structuring of input data (data →information → knowledge) by an interactive computational process going on in the agent during the adaptive interplay with the environment. 33

Natural Computing in Living Agents

- Agent-centered (information and computation is in the agent)- Agent is a cognizing biological organism or an intelligent machine or both- Interaction with the physical world and other agents is essential- Kind of physicalism with information as aKind of physicalism with information as a stuff of the universe- Agents are parts of different cognitive communities

S lf i ti- Self-organization- Circularity (recursiveness) is central for biological organisms

http://www.conscious-robots.com 34

What is Computation? How Does NatureWhat is Computation? How Does Nature Compute? Learning from Nature *

“It always bothers me that, according to the laws as we understand th t d it t k ti hi i fi it b fthem today, it takes a computing machine an infinite number of logical operations to figure out what goes on in no matter how tiny a region of space, and no matter how tiny a region of time …

So I have often made the hypothesis that ultimately physics will not require a mathematical statement, that in the end the machinery will be revealed and the laws will turn out to be simple like the chequerbe revealed, and the laws will turn out to be simple, like the chequer board with all its apparent complexities.”

Richard Feynman “The Character of Physical Law”

* 2008 Midwest NKS Conference, Fri Oct 31 - Sun Nov 2, 2008Indiana University — Bloomington, IN 35

Paradigm Shift

• Information/Computation• Discrete/Continuum• Natural interactive computing beyond Turing limit• Complex dynamic systems• EmergencyEmergency• Logic• Philosophy

H t i ( t t i )• Human-centric (agent-centric)• Circularity and self-reflection• Ethics returns to researchers agenda

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Info-Computational Paradigm ofInfo-Computational Paradigm of Knowledge

• Understanding of info-computational mechanisms and processesand their relationship to life and knowledge

• Argument for evolution of biological life cognition and intelligence• Argument for evolution of biological life, cognition and intelligence

• Development of new unconventional computational methods

• Learning from nature about optimizing solutions with limitedresources (Organic Computing)

• Providing a unified platform (framework) for specialist sciences to communicate and create holistic (multi-disciplinary/inter-co u cate a d c eate o st c ( u t d sc p a y/ tedisciplinary/transdisciplinary) views

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Two Books on Universe as Quantum Information

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Science, Knowledge, Truth and Meaning

Critical thinkingWhat is science?What is scientific method?What is knowledge?Information and knowledgeTruth and meaninggLimits of formal systemsScience as learning processInfo-computational view of knowledge productionInfo computational view of knowledge productionComplexity

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Red Thread: Critical Thinking

“Reserve your right to think, y gfor even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”

Hypatia, natural philosopher and mathematician

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What is Science?

EyeMaurits Cornelis Escher We can see Science from different perspectives…41

Definitions by Goal (Result) and Process (1)

science from Latin scientia, scire to know; 1: a department of systematized knowledge as an

object of study2: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering2: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering

general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific

th dmethod

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Definitions by Goal (Result) and Process (2)

3: such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena : natural science: natural science

4: a system or method reconciling practical ends with scientific laws <engineering is both a science and an g gart>

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Science: Definitions by Contrast

To do science is to search for repeated patterns, not simply to accumulate facts.

R b t H M A thRobert H. MacArthur

Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubtReligion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt. Richard Feynman

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Empirical approach. Wh t S i th ?What Sciences are there?Dewey Decimal Classification®http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/8866/15urls.html

000 – Computer science, Library and Information science, & general workg

100 – Philosophy and psychology200 – Religion300 Social sciences300 – Social sciences400 – Language500 – Science600 – Technology700 – Arts800 – Literature900 – History, geography & biography

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Dewey Decimal Classification®

500 – Science510 Mathematics520 Astronomyy530 Physics540 Chemistry550 Earth Sciences & Geology550 Earth Sciences & Geology560 Fossils & Prehistoric Life570 Biology & Life Sciences580 Plants (Botany)580 Plants (Botany)590 Animals (Zoology)

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Language Based SchemeClassical Sciences in their Cultural Context –

Logic

&

Mathematics

Culture

Natural Sciences(Physics,

Mathematics

1

Culture(Religion, Art, …)

5

yChemistry,Biology, …)

2

Social SciencesSocial Sciences(Economics, Sociology,

Anthropology, …)3

The Humanities(Phil h Hi(Philosophy, History,

Linguistics …)4 47

Understanding what science isUnderstanding what science is by understanding what scientists do

"Scientists are people of very dissimilar temperaments doing different things in very different ways. Among scientists are collectors classifiers and compulsiveAmong scientists are collectors, classifiers and compulsive tidiers-up; many are detectives by temperament and many are explorers; some are artists and others artisans. There are poet-scientists and philosopher-scientists and even a few mystics."

Peter Medawar, Pluto's Republic

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Science defined by its Method

Socratic Method Scientific Method

1. Wonder. Pose a question(of the “What is X ?” form).

1. Wonder. Pose a question.(Formulate a problem).(of the What is X ? form). (Formulate a problem).

2. Hypothesis. Suggest a plausible answer (a definition or definiens) from which some conceptually testable hypothetical propositions can be deduced.

2. Hypothesis. Suggest a plausible answer (a theory) from which some empirically testable hypothetical propositions can be deduced.

yp p p

3. Elenchus ; “testing,” “refutation,” or “cross-examination.” Perform a thought experiment by imagining a case which conforms to the definiens but clearly fails

3. Testing. Construct and perform an experiment, which makes it possible to observe whether the consequences specified in one or more of those hypothetical y

to exemplify the definiendum, or vice versa. Such cases, if successful, are called counterexamples. If a counterexample is generated, return to step 2 otherwise go to step 4

yppropositions actually follow when the conditions specified in the same proposition(s) pertain. If the test fails, return to step 2, otherwise go to step 4.

step 2, otherwise go to step 4.

4. Accept the hypothesis as provisionally true. Return to step 3 if you can conceive any other case which may show the answer to be defective

4. Accept the hypothesis as provisionally true. Return to step 3 if there are predictable consequences of the theory which have not been experimentally confirmedanswer to be defective. been experimentally confirmed.

5. Act accordingly. 5. Act accordingly. 49

The Scientific Method

RESEARCH QUESTION/EXISTING THEORIESAND OBSERVATIONS

1 Hypotesen måste

PREDICTIONS

3

RESEARCH QUESTION/ HYPOTHESIS

2

Hypothesis Hypothesis

must be

SELECTION AMONG

justeras

TESTS AND NEW

ypmust be

redefined

must be adjusted

The hypotetico deductive cycle

COMPETING THEORIES

6

TESTS AND NEW OBSERVATIONS

4Consistency achieved

The hypotetico-deductive cycleEXISTING THEORY CONFIRMED

(within a new context) or

NEW THEORY PUBLISHED

5The scientific-community cycle

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The Scientific MethodFormulating Research Questions and Hypotheses

Different approaches:

Intuition – (Educated) GuessAnalogySymmetryParadigmMetaphorMetaphorand many more ..

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The Scientific MethodCriteria to Evaluate Theories

When there are several rivaling hypotheses number of criteria can be used for choosing a best theory.

Following can be evaluated:

– Theoretical scope– Theoretical scope– Heuristic value (heuristic: rule-of-thumb or argument

derived from experience)Parsimony (simplicity Ockham’s razor)– Parsimony (simplicity, Ockham s razor)

– Esthetics– Etc.

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The Scientific MethodCriteria which Good Scientific Theory Shall Fulfill

Logically consistent– Logically consistent– Consistent with accepted facts – Testable– Consistent with related theories– Interpretable: explain and predict– Parsimonious– Pleasing to the mind (Esthetic, Beautiful)– Useful (Relevant/Applicable)

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Ockham’s Razor (Occam’s Razor)The Scientific Method

Ockham s Razor (Occam s Razor)(Law Of Economy, Or Law Of Parsimony, Less Is More!)

A philosophical statement developed by William of Ockham, (1285–1347/49) a scholastic that Pluralitas non est ponenda(1285–1347/49), a scholastic, that Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate; “Plurality should not be assumed without necessity.”

The principle gives precedence to simplicity; of two competing theories, the simplest explanation of an entity is to be preferred.

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Knowledgeg

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What is Knowledge?What is Knowledge?Plato´s Definition

Plato believed that we learn in this life by remembering knowledge originally acquired in a previous life, and that the soul already has knowledge, and we learn by recollecting what in fact the soul already knows.

[At present we know that we inherit some physical preconditions,[At present we know that we inherit some physical preconditions, structures and abilities already at birth. In a sense those structures of our brains and bodies may be seen as the result of evolution, so in a sense they encapsulate memories of the historical development of our bodies.]

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What is Knowledge?What is Knowledge?Plato´s Definition

Plato offers three analyses of knowledge, [dialogues Theaetetus 201 and Meno 98] all of which Socrates rejects.

Plato's third definition:" Knowledge is justified, true belief. "

The problem with this concerns the word “justified”. All interpretations of “justified” are deemed inadequate.

Edmund Gettier, in the paper called "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?“ argues that knowledge is not the same as justified t b li f (G i P bl )true belief. (Gettier Problem)

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What is Knowledge?What is Knowledge?Descartes´ Definition

"Intuition is the undoubting conception of an unclouded and attentive mind, and springs from the light of reasons alone; it is more certain than deduction itself in that it is simpler."

“Deduction by which we understand all necessary inference from other facts that are known with certainty,“ leads to knowledgeother facts that are known with certainty, leads to knowledge when recommended method is being followed.

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What is Knowledge?What is Knowledge?Descartes´ Definition

"Intuitions provide the ultimate grounds for logical deductions. Ultimate first principles must be known through intuition while deduction logically derives conclusions from them.

These two methods [intuition and deduction] are the most certain routes to knowledge, and the mind should admit no others."routes to knowledge, and the mind should admit no others.

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What is Knowledge?

– Propositional knowledge: knowledge that such-and-such is the case.

– Non-propositional knowledge (tacit knowledge): the knowing how to do something.

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Sources of Knowledge

– A Priori Knowledge (built in, developed by evolution and inheritance) (resides the brain as memory)) ( y)

– Perception (“on-line input”, information acquisition)

– Reasoning (information processing)

– Testimony (network, communication)

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Knowledge and Ignorance

“Our knowledge is an island in the infinite ocean of the unknown. “K l d d d th t l ldKnowledge and wonder: the natural world as man knows it, Victor F. Weisskopf (1962)

"We live in an island of knowledge surrounded by a sea of ignorance. A i l d f k l d d thAs our island of knowledge grows, so does theshore of our ignorance.“ John Wheeler

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Greg Chaitin: A More Elaborate FractalGreg Chaitin: A More Elaborate, Fractal Picture of Knowledge

Mathematics is more like an archipelago consisting of islands of truths in an ocean of incomprehensible and uncompressible information Greg Chaitin in anuncompressible information. Greg Chaitin, in an interview in September 2003 says:“You see, you have all of mathematical truth, this ocean of

h i l h A d hi h i l d A i l d hmathematical truth. And this ocean has islands. An island here, algebraic truths. An island there, arithmetic truths. An island here, the calculus. And these are different fields of mathematics where all the ideas are interconnected in ways that mathematicians love; they fallideas are interconnected in ways that mathematicians love; they fall into nice, interconnected patterns. But what I've discovered is all this sea around the islands.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAJE35wX1nQ&feature=related Mandelbrot

http://books.google.se/books?id=RUedyFupPY4C&pg=PA265&lpg=PA265&dq=chaitin+knowledge+island&source=bl&ots=p7AacMKrmu&sig=1WzbvxKbJF16GCTMgxCJMjOoYhw&hl=sv#v=onepage&q=chaitin%20knowledge%20island&f=false 63

PHYSICAL BASIS OF KNOWLEDGE

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Cell Processing Information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJxobgkPEAo&feature=relatedFrom RNA to Protein Synthesis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aVT2DTbtA8&feature=relatedReplication, Transcription, and Translation http://www.goldenswamp.com/page/2

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Blurring the Boundary BetweenBlurring the Boundary Between Perception and Memory

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=perception-and-memory

http://www.sciencedaily.com66

The Extended Mind

Andy Clark and David Chalmers propose the idea of mind delegating cognitive* functions to the environment in whichfunctions to the environment - in which objects within the environment function as a part of the mindhttp://consc.net/papers/extended.html

The term cognition (Latin: cognoscere, "to know", "to conceptualize" or "to recognize") refersto a faculty for the processing of information, applying knowledge, and changing preferences.Cognition, or cognitive processes, can be natural or artificial, conscious or unconscious.(Wikipedia)

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( p )

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Blue Brain (Human Brain) Project( ) j

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124751881557234725.html In Search for Intelligence, a Silicon Brain Twitches

http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/page-52741-en.html 69

HBP - Computational BrainHBP - Computational BrainBrain Processing Information

•The project•The project•Introduction•Goals•Neuroscience•The computing challenge•Towards understanding the braing

•Research areas•Neuroinformatics•Neuroscience•MedicineC iti•Cognition

•Theory•Simulation•Supercomputing•Neurorobotics•Neuromorphic computingNeuromorphic computing•Brain interfaces•Education•Ethical, legal and social issues

•A european flagship•Animated map

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•Organisation•The FET flagship programme•Flagship call

The Human Brain Project:The Human Brain Project:Science of 21st Century

The FET Flagship Program –a new initiative launched by the European Commission as part of its Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) initiative.g g g ( )

http://ist.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/pictures/IST_Lectures/IST_Lecture_Markram/HBP_presskit__austria.pdf

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rPH1Abuu9M Henry Markram: Simulating the Brain — The Next Decisive Years [1/3]

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDY4cFJauls Henry Markram: p y ySimulating the Brain — The Next Decisive Years [2/3]

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h06lgyES6Oc Henry Markram: Simulating the Brain — The Next Decisive Years [3/3]

71• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrJQ_qkkx4E Five Tomorrows

C iti C tiCognitive ComputingIBM have been working on a cognitive computing project called Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic

Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE). http://www ibm com/smarterplanet/us/en/business analytics/article/cognitive computing htmlhttp://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/business_analytics/article/cognitive_computing.html

http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2011/8/114944-cognitive-computing/fulltext

Communications of the ACM , Vol. 54 No. 8, Pages 62-71

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What is Universe? What is Knowledge? What is Science?

Based on an enormous boost of extended mind of humanity we witness a major paradigm shift in our understanding of the universe and our place in it.

This big picture is important as it sets the framework f h thi kfor how we think.

That is why not only theory of particular sciences por specific phenomena but even philosophy of naturemakes.(And empirical data are as well known theory laden even by implicit(And empirical data are as well known theory-laden, even by implicit theory)

Network Paradigm

Metabolic theory of ecologyhttp://online.kitp.ucsb.edu/online/pattern_i03/west/oh/29.htmlhtt // t f d / b t/ l / fil /G ff %20W t

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http://www.santafe.edu/about/people/profile/Geoffrey%20West

http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-bookNetworks Crowds and Markets:Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning About a Highly Connected World

High School Dating (Bearman, Moody, and Stovel, 2004) (Image by Mark Newman)

Corporate E-Mail Communication (Adamic and Adar, 2005)

75Trails of Flickr Users in Manhattan (Crandall et al. 2009)

MAP OF SCIENCEScience as a result of Scientific Community

MAP OF SCIENCE

http://www.lanl.gov/news/albums/science/PLOSMapOfScience.jpg

Thi "M f S i " ill t tThis "Map of Science" illustrates the online behavior of scientists accessing different scientific journals, publications, aggregators, t C l t th i tifietc. Colors represent the scientific

discipline of each journal, based on disciplines

http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/nb.story/story_id/%2015965 76

Summary on Networks and why ”big picture” is necessary: ”htt // t b / t h? J G NdJ5G Th P f N t k

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”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJmGrNdJ5Gw The Power of Networks

A Dialogue Concerning Two World Systems: InfoA Dialogue Concerning Two World Systems: Info-Computational vs. Mechanistic

Dodig Crnkovic, G. and Müller, V. , A DialogueConcerning Two World Systems: Info-Computational vs. g y pMechanistic; in Dodig Crnkovic G and Burgin, M., Eds.; World Scientific Publishing Co., Inc.: Singapore, 2010http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.5001

More articles on Info-Computationalism:http://www.mrtc.mdh.se/~gdc/work/publications.html