Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!olivea!orc!bbn.com!BKort
From: BKort@bbn.com (Barry Kort)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: emergent properties
Message-ID: <60045@bbn.BBN.COM>
Date: 15 Oct 90 15:18:39 GMT
Sender: news@bbn.com
Organization: BBN Labs
Lines: 32
References:<3499@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> <1990Oct3.183522.17076@riacs.edu> <3565@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> <58130@microsoft.UUCP>

In article <58130@microsoft.UUCP> gaben@microsoft.UUCP (Gabe NEWELL) asks:

> What paradigm is currently available that can richly
> address subtleties of "I" "choose" and "know"?

In the case of humans, neuroscience has identified various structures in 
the brain which mediate behavior patterns.  Among the oldest and most 
primitive parts of the brain are the Limbic System and R-Complex.  These 
centers are the sources of primary instinctive drives, including 
self-preservation behaviors.  Mostly these are hard-wired, genetically 
inherited modes which operate outside the scope of conscious awarness.  In 
contrast, humans and other mammals have a large neocortex which is the 
center of learning and acquired behaviors.  At every stage of development, 
from infancy to old age, there are frontiers of learning in which the 
knowledge, skills, and wisdom of the neocortex struggle to overcome the 
primitive instincts of the subcortical regions.  It is easy to tell where 
these frontiers are:  it is precisely where one's emotions run high.  If 
you montior your emotions (neurotransmitter levels,  general body 
chemistry, signals from the sympathetic nervous system, and involuntary 
behavior patterns), you will recognize the frontiers between cortical and 
subcortical behaviors.

With learning (which is hard work), more and more of the body's behaviors 
comes under the regulation of the higher cortical centers.  In literature, 
the metaphors of Devil and Angel are often used to illustrate the tension 
between conscious behavior and subliminal drives.


Barry Kort
Visiting Scientist
BBN Labs
Cambridge, MA