From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Sat Jul 31 1999 - 06:07:44 MDT
I'm reading Gerald Taylor's book "The Race for Consciousness". Has anyone
else read this book? Taylor lays out the neuroanatomical and functional
details of what he calls his "relational consciousness" model, making (to my
layman's eyes) a detailed argument from the neuronal level, through the level
of individual neural net circuits, up to the functional level, that the "hard
problems" of consciousness and cognitive science (even *qualia*) can all be
explained through the "competition" of cognitive "primitives" (my term)
instantiated in specific neural net representations. He cites a good deal of
empirical work, including clinical observation of brain damage and
dysfunction, surgical experiments on humans and other animals, network
simulation and straightforward neuroanatomy. He also relates his
explanations to every other major work in cognitive science of which I'm
aware. Although not particularly well written (it could have really have
been improved by a thorough editing from a literary viewpoint), this book has
impressed me for just how completely an exhaustive list of cognitive
phenomena can now be linked to specific brain areas and functions, so much so
that I keep wanting to ship copies of it to working AI researchers.
I'd be keenly interested in any opinions by folks more informed about
cognitive science of the theories and analysis contained in this book. The
schematics contained in this book look to me to be a fairly detailed plan for
a working general-purpose AI.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"Civilization is protest against nature;
progress requires us to take control of evolution."
-- Thomas Huxley
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