From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!torn!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!kbsw1!chris Tue Jun 23 13:20:51 EDT 1992
Article 6275 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: chris@kbsw1 (Chris Kostanick 806 1044)
Subject: Re: Physical versus Computaional (was Re: Transducers)
Message-ID: <1992Jun16.221250.9397@kbsw1>
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1992 22:12:50 GMT
Reply-To: chris@kbsw1.UUCP (Chris Kostanick 806 1044)
References: <1992Jun11.184125.13172@mp.cs.niu.edu> <1992Jun11.201743.11470@cs.ucf.edu> <1992Jun11.212725.22683@guinness.idbsu.edu>
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re muscle movements and thinking

Stevan Harnad's postings have gotten me thinking. (No minor accomplishment
that)

I've been doing some minor observational experiments on myself.
(Hardly scientific I know, but me is the only conciousness I've got
to work with, so what the heck.) What I've noticed is that my feeling
of groundedness or what combat pilots call "situational awareness"
seems to vary depending on what tasks I am doing. In air combat, being
aware of how the encounter is unfolding in 3-D is vital to staying 
alive. This understanding of what the little dots out there or radar
blips actually means is called situational awareness. 

The most situational awareness seems to be caused by tasks that
require lots of fine real time motion control. Fencing and skiing
are the winners here. Aerobic but repetetive tasks like running
and bike riding don't seem to aid situational awareness and motionless
tasks like reading netnews seem to produce anesthesia. 

If some other netters have experience with gymnastics and 
karate and would like to relate how it affects their feeling
of groundedness the account(s) might prove interesting.

What relevance this has to AI is an open question. With only one data
point (us), it's hard to tell what is a necessary part of intelligence
and what is just the way we do things.

Chris Kostanick
"I like stabbing people. Fortunately they stab back, it's so much more
interesting that way."



