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From: LEO@BGERUG51.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.ai.digest
Subject: backward path and religions
Message-ID: <19880826025229.6.NICK@HOWARD-JOHNSONS.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Date: 26 Aug 88 02:52:00 GMT
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Date: Tue, 23 Aug 88 09:23 EDT
From: LEO%BGERUG51.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: backward path and religions
To: ailist@ai.ai.MIT.EDU
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In Pattern Recognition, an intelligent system with a backward path in his
reasoning, can be used to try to find the appearance of a certain known
pattern in an input-signal. The system will probably always see this
required pattern if it tries hard enough, even if it is not there. On the
other hand, the Backward Path is a very usefull tool in the recognition of
patterns, in the presence of noise and defects. After forward-backward
resonance, eliminating the noise and correcting the defects, the system can
recall the complete pattern. When using this system in a real-world
environment, how and/or when can we know that the pattern recognition is
false? How are human or animal brains dealing with this problem? (This is
almost a discussion like subjective versus objective.)

Secondly, consider a self-learning, self-organizing neural netwerk.
Furthermore, suppose this system is searching for answers to questions in a
field from which it has almost no knowledge. In this case, the system might
ask  for things that it can never find. But, because of the self-learning,
self-organizing character, it will build answers, imaginary ones, if it
keeps asking long enough. To my opinion, this is the essence of religions
and superstitions. I presume that the number of layers or the 'distance'
between the sense perception and the abstract thinking level is to big.
Hence, when we have to deal with an extensive neural network, like the
human brain, that is working far beneath its capabilities, it will be able
to create imaginary 'objects' and speculations.

I think that we can also put this feature in an other perspective. Animals
with small brains are able to make a distinction between good and bad
circumstances. A lot of animals with greater brains are able to make a
distinction within the good circumstances, and chose a leader : the best.
Humans can go further : they are able to create a leader or leaders, only
excisting in there thoughts.

If we would be able to build large neural networks, with these self-
learning and self-organizing features, what is then the influence of the
structure of this system to these problems? How can we avoid or use them?
Building models or making suppositions is a very important part of
intelligence, but how can we control an AI-system in this, when we are only
able to control the dimensions of the system and the features of the basic
parts, the neurons?

I don't want to insult religious people, or being the cause of a discussion
about religion or believing. I should only appreciate it, if somebody,
having a more clear vieuw or some good idea's about these subjects, should
reply...
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L. Vercauteren
AI-section Automatic Control Laboratory
State University of Ghent, Belgium
e-mail LEO@BGERUG51.BITNET