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From: montgome@udel.EDU (Kevin Montgomery)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Goal of AI: where are we going?
Message-ID: <578@louie.udel.EDU>
Date: Sat, 10-Oct-87 13:01:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: louie.578
Posted: Sat Oct 10 13:01:55 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 12-Oct-87 06:35:20 EDT
References: <178@usl> <549@csm9a.UUCP> <270@uwslh.UUCP> <15196@topaz.rutgers.edu> <1368@houdi.UUCP> <590@l.cc.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: montgome@udel.EDU (Kevin Montgomery)
Organization: University of Delaware
Lines: 26
Summary: lighten up!

>> In article <2281@umn-cs.UUCP>, ramarao@umn-cs.UUCP (Bindu Rama Rao) writes:
>> > 	Is the Human mind flawed?

C'mon guys, lighten up for a sec.  Flawed implies a defect from it's
design.  Therefore, if someone's mind doesn't do what it's designed
to do (namely help keep the organism alive, etc), THEN it's flawed 
(ex: schizos, manics, etc).  A "normal" person does NOT have a flawed
mind, just an illogical one.  What do you expect when the old brain
(producing emotions, feelings and the like) is still in the design?
So the $64K answer is: no, the mind is not (usually) flawed, but it
is illogical.  Is having an illogical mind a problem?  Hell no!  It's
what keeps organisms going- drives for self-preservation, procreation,
etc.  While striving to be logical IS (i feel) a noble aspiration,
there's no way to totally shut out something like emotions so deeply 
ingrained into the mental architecture.  (one may even argue that 
if we were to consider all things logically, then civilization would
die out rather quickly, but i'm not gonna touch that one)  At any rate,
if you want to do some neato cognitive modelling stuff, then you've
got to (eventually) incorporate the functions of the old brain (illogic) 
with the logical processes we normally consider.  If you're gonna
do some neato expert system stuff involving pure logic, then don't worry
about it.  `kay?    `kay.


-- 
Kevin Desperately-trying-to-get-into-Stanford Montgomery