Analogy just looks like high level perception: why a domain-general approach to analogical mapping is right

Hofstadter and his colleagues have criticized current accounts of analogy, claiming that such accounts do not accurately capture interactions between processes of representation construction and processes of mapping. They suggest instead that analogy should be viewed as a form of high level perception that encompasses both representation building and mapping as indivisible operations within a single model. They argue specifically against SME, our model of analogical matching, on the grounds that it is modular, and offer instead programs such as Mitchell and Hofstadter's Copycat as examples of the high level perception approach. In this paper we argue against this positionon two grounds. First, we demonstrate that most of their specific arguments involving SME and Copycat are incorrect. Second, we argue that the claim that analogy is high-level perception, while in some ways an attractive metaphor, is too vague to be useful as a technical proposal. We focus on five issues: (1) how perceptionrelates to analogy,(2) how flexibilityarises in analogicalprocessing, (3) whether analogy is a domain-general process, (4) how micro-worlds should be used in the study of analogy, and (5) how best to assess the psychological plausibility of a model of analogy. We illustrate our discussion with examples taken from computer models embodying both views.     

THE USE OF CYBERNETICS IN ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT: AN ILLUSTRATION WITHIN AIR FORCE LOGISTICS COMMAND

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to show how cybernetic concepts can be used to guide organizational design and development activities. The intent of the paper is to demonstrate how a cybernetic model of a viable organization can be used to diagnose potential problems in existing organizations and serve to guide organizational development activities, For illustrative purposes, a case study of the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) is used to demonstrate how the cybernetic organizational model can be made operational in the “real world.” The paper is designed to show how this methodology can be used as a road map for integrating and guiding several initiatives which are underway to make AFLC more responsive in meeting potential wartime scenarios. This paper is organized in sections which: (1) describe AFLC mission responsibilities and organization; (2) identify current major problems; (3) describe and use a cybernetic organizational model to diagnose causes of current problems; and (4) develop some observations which can be used to guide future organizational design and development efforts.     

The modern paradigm of information science: Informology

This paper considers printed and internet sources determining the content of information science (informology). The philosophical approaches to information (attributive, anthropocentric, and cybernetic) are described, of which only the cybernetic approach is recognized as scientifically grounded. Theoretical and applied informology are distinguished. Statements that can be considered as the axioms and laws of informology, are suggested as the modern paradigm of informology. The existing concepts of informology (probabilistic, semantic, algorithmic, pattern, and qualitative) are described. The general properties of information as well as specific properties of scientific and technical information are determined. The components (divisions), which can be included in the composition of theoretical and applied informology, are described.     

NETMET: A program for generating and interpreting metaphors

Metaphors have computable semantics. A program called NETMET both generates metaphors and produces partial literal interpretations of metaphors. NETMET is based on Kittay's semantic field theory of metaphor and Black's interaction theory of metaphor. Input to NETMET consists of a list of literal propositions. NETMET creates metaphors by finding topic and source semantic fields, producing an analogical map from source to topic, then generating utterances in which terms in the source are identified with or predicated of terms in the topic. Given a metaphor, NETMET utilizes if-then rules to generate the implication complex of that metaphor. The literal leaves of the implication complex comprise a partial literal interpretation.Eric Steinhart has an MA in philosophy (Boston College) and completed his PhD dissertation (Formal Semantics for Metaphors) at SUNY at Stony Brook. He has written on technology, analogy, metaphor and idealism. His publications include Beyond the Proportional Analogy: A Structural Model of AnalogyPragmatics and Cognition, 2, 1 (1994). He is interested in the application of computational methods to philosophical topics and is working on a computational model of idealistic metaphysics.     

The metaphor machine: A database method for creativity support

This paper shows how a data base method can be applied to the automatic generation of metaphors. The utility of automatic metaphor generation is based on providing interactive support to creative human thinking processes. Such interactive support systems have been called Idea Processing systems, and are seen as special qualitative types of Decision Support Systems (DSS). They include functions to support metaphorical thinking as well as other modes of creative idea development. The paper presents brief backgrounds references on creativity and the relevance of metaphors, as well as to previous work in Idea Processing. It then presents a relational data base method for automatic metaphor generation. The method is described and illustrated, as well as shown in relational algebra and relational calculus notation. In conclusion, the paper indicates how the relational data base method presented can be operationalized through using existing data base software or by integration with a specialized interface for the particular application of metaphor generation.     

AN APPLICATION OF CYBERNETIC ALGORITHM DESIGN

Abstract

Principles for cybernetic generation of algorithms are applied to a specific problem class in order to gain insight needed for the development of a general design methodology. The principles are formalized and implemented in a working program. Specifically, the family of problems considered consists of those where instances consist of finite sequences of distinct elements chosen from some linearly ordered set and the operation among elements is the comparison. The results obtained with the program indicate that the program can provide many insights into problem solution. Problems inherent in the cybernetic algorithm design process are discussed and applications to other types of problems are suggested.     

On modeling of bioreactors for control

Bioreactors are noted for their dynamic behavior deviant from that of chemical reactors because of metabolic regulation. Consequently model-based control of bioreactors must rely on models that can accommodate regulatory behavior. Although the framework of kinetics, the hallmark of analysis of all chemical reaction systems (of which metabolism is but an illustrious member), would be a natural implement for describing biological processes, its facileness has suffered at the hands of regulatory phenomena. In this paper, we review the cybernetic modeling effort of Ramkrishna and coworkers that has had a notable run of success in dealing with the diverse effects of metabolic regulation in numerous microbial processes. These effects include multiplicity of steady states of widely varying physiological activity, transient behavior traversing through multiple domains of metabolic shifts, and so on. This review will expound the basic tenets of the cybernetic framework in its current state of evolution, highlight the various developments of this methodology, and in effect, foster its future for model-based control of bioreactors towards maintaining a meticulously monitored metabolic activity.     

Challenges in natural language processing: the case of metaphor (commentary)

This article comments on some ways in which metaphor is relevant to practical language technology, for either text or speech. While the article mentions some deep problems, it nevertheless points out that certain issues are less troublesome than they might appear to be, and that metaphor in real discourse has some characteristics that could help, rather than hinder, practical discourse-processing. The article also mentions the author’s ongoing work on developing a new view of how metaphor and metonymy relate to each other. This view is based on a deconstruction into underlying dimensions.     

Agent规范与编程语言SPLAW的语法和语义

本文描述了Ａｇｅｎｔ规范与编程语言ＳＰＬＡＷ的语法，为ＳＰＬＡＷ中的各种语言成分提供了操作语义，并基于标记转换系统给出Ａｇｅｎｔ性质的证明规则。由于ＳＰＬＡＷ的通信部分采用不依赖于具体应用的Ａｇｅｎｔ交互语言ＫＱＭＬ，使遵循同一标准的Ａｇｅｎｔ之间能进行协作问题求解。ＳＰＬＡＷ首次为Ａｇｅｎｔ提供继承支持，使其可以实现具有面向对象特征的多线程系统。ＳＰＬＡＷ屏了为语言引入内部模态词的缺陷，试图从外     

What is a Simulation Model?

Many philosophical accounts of scientific models fail to distinguish between a simulation model and other forms of models. This failure is unfortunate because there are important differences pertaining to their methodology and epistemology that favor their philosophical understanding. The core claim presented here is that simulation models are rich and complex units of analysis in their own right, that they depart from known forms of scientific models in significant ways, and that a proper understanding of the type of model simulations are fundamental for their philosophical assessment. I argue that simulation models can be distinguished from other forms of models by the many algorithmic structures, representation relations, and new semantic connections involved in their architecture. In this article, I reconstruct a general architecture for a simulation model, one that faithfully captures the complexities involved in most scientific research with computer simulations. Furthermore, I submit that a new methodology capable of conforming such architecture into a fully functional, computationally tractable computer simulation must be in place. I discuss this methodology—what I call recasting—and argue for its philosophical novelty. If these efforts are heading towards the right interpretation of simulation models, then one can show that computer simulations shed new light on the philosophy of science. To illustrate the potential of my interpretation of simulation models, I briefly discuss simulation-based explanations as a novel approach to questions about scientific explanation.

     

AMPLIFYING REGULATION AND VARIETY INCREASE IN EVOLVING SYSTEMS

Abstract

The cybernetic theory of regulation is applied to a characterization of evolution, with emphasis on an interpretation of the directional aspects of evolutionary processes. In the suggested context, evolution appears as a general type of stability, and a perception of the world as a hierarchy of structures differentiated by discontinuities and characterized by an increasing order of complexity and organization, obtains a specific functional meaning. Such a hierarchy can be regarded as a stratified organization of controllers interacting such that across its levels, regulation is amplified.     

A Comprehensive Overview of Cyber-Physical Systems: From Perspective of Feedback System

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are characterized by integrating cybernetic and physical processes. The theories and applications of CPS face the enormous challenges. The aim of this paper is to provide a latest understanding of this emerging multi-disciplinary methodology. First, the features of CPS are described, and the research progresses are summarized from different components in CPS, such as system modeling, information acquisition, communication, control and security. Each part is also followed by the future directions. Then some typical applications are given to show the prospects of CPS.      

单元化探究式教学在《哲学与人生》课程中的应用研究

哲学理论来源于生活,如何才能把哲学基础知识走向生活化,易于学生掌握与动用,我们在摆出哲学课程教学存在问题的情况下,依据建构主义学习结构、探究式学习方式等,采用单元化探究式教学,把它分为四个阶段,单元化体现为理论框架、内容学习、学生思考以及实践运用;搭脚手架、收集证据、解释、协作学习与评价这四个构成探究式。通过一个课例的分析,得出采用单元化探究式教学能调动学生参与教学的积极性,帮助了学生构建知识体系,有助于完善师生、生生关系,创建良好的人际氛围。     

Information retrieval and hypertext: competing technologies or complementary access methods

Abstract. Information retrieval typically involves accessing textual information from a database in response to a user's vague information need. Hypertext or hypermedia, on the other hand, involves a user browsing through a database of textual or multimedia information in response to a variety of types of information need. Thus information retrieval can be said to have a searching metaphor while hypertext has a browsing analogy. Initially, these two technologies for information access appear to be very different, almost competitive in nature. In this paper information retrieval systems are briefly reviewed and hypertext systems are also examined. These two techniques for accessing information have been integrated into a prototype system which is described. The system dynamically generates guided tours in response to a user's query and the tour guides the user through the hypertext. Some experiments reporting on the effectiveness of this as an information access strategy are given.     

THE DISCIPLE–RKF LEARNING AND REASONING AGENT

Over the years we have developed the Disciple theory, methodology, and family of tools for building knowledge-based agents. This approach consists of developing an agent shell that can be taught directly by a subject matter expert in a way that resembles how the expert would teach a human apprentice when solving problems in cooperation. This paper presents the most recent version of the Disciple approach and its implementation in the Disciple–RKF (rapid knowledge formation) system. Disciple–RKF is based on mixed-initiative problem solving , where the expert solves the more creative parts of the problem and the agent solves the more routine ones, integrated teaching and learning , where the agent helps the expert to teach it, by asking relevant questions, and the expert helps the agent to learn, by providing examples, hints, and explanations, and multistrategy learning , where the agent integrates multiple learning strategies, such as learning from examples, learning from explanations, and learning by analogy, to learn from the expert how to solve problems. Disciple–RKF has been applied to build learning and reasoning agents for military center of gravity analysis, which are used in several courses at the US Army War College.     

Requirements Engineering, Soft Systems Methodology and Workforce Empowerment

The fidelity and practicality of using soft systems methodology (SSM) to empower the workforce such that its members can make a fuller contribution to the requirements engineering process is critically analysed. The detailed analysis is carried out by using a (critical) philosophical approach to develop an interpretation of (some key aspects of) requirements engineering practice in actual information systems development situations, utilising a number of practical requirements engineering studies. This analysis is built upon to explain the relationship between requirements engineering, SSM and workforce empowerment. It is concluded that, by maintaining critically focused attention on the economic context, it is theoretically possible to engineer requirements for information systems that would actually empower the workforce. However, the likelihood of using SSM successfully for this purpose is low, as the economic context in which requirements engineering takes place is largely ignored by the SSM advocates.     

Agent Programming in 3APL

An intriguing and relatively new metaphor in the programming community is that of an intelligent agent. The idea is to view programs as intelligent agents acting on our behalf. By using the metaphor of intelligent agents the programmer views programs as entities which have a mental state consisting of beliefs and goals. The computational behaviour of an agent is explained in terms of the decisions the agent makes on the basis of its mental state. It is assumed that this way of looking at programs may enhance the design and development of complex computational systems.To support this new style of programming, we propose the agent programming language 3APL. 3APL has a clear and formally defined semantics. The operational semantics of the language is defined by means of transition systems. 3APL is a combination of imperative and logic programming. From imperative programming the language inherits the full range of regular programming constructs, including recursive procedures, and a notion of state-based computation. States of agents, however, are belief or knowledge bases, which are different from the usual variable assignments of imperative programming. From logic programming, the language inherits the proof as computation model as a basic means of computation for querying the belief base of an agent. These features are well-understood and provide a solid basis for a structured agent programming language. Moreover, on top of that 3APL agents use so-called practical reasoning rules which extend the familiar recursive rules of imperative programming in several ways. Practical reasoning rules can be used to monitor and revise the goals of an agent, and provide an agent with reflective capabilities.Applying the metaphor of intelligent agents means taking a design stance. From this perspective, a program is taken as an entity with a mental state, which acts pro-actively and reactively, and has reflective capabilities. We illustrate how the metaphor of intelligent agents is supported by the programming language. We also discuss the design of control structures for rule-based agent languages. A control structure provides a solution to the problem of which goals and which rules an agent should select. We provide a concrete and intuitive ordering on the practical reasoning rules on which such a selection mechanism can be based. The ordering is based on the metaphor of intelligent agents. Furthermore, we provide a language with a formal semantics for programming control structures. The main idea is not to integrate this language into the agent language itself, but to provide the facilities for programming control structures at a meta level. The operational semantics is accordingly specified at the meta level, by means of a meta transition system.