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Article 3608 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: ra_ashar@vax.muskingum.edu
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Plato's Meno and Re: Thought as an evolutionary process
Message-ID: <1992Feb9.215755.1849@vax.muskingum.edu>
Date: 10 Feb 92 03:57:55 GMT
References: <1992Jan27.021252.1118@memstvx1.memst.edu> <3342@novavax.UUCP>
Organization: Muskingum College
Lines: 38

In article <3342@novavax.UUCP>, gowj@novavax.UUCP (James Gow) writes:
> In article <1992Jan27.021252.1118@memstvx1.memst.edu> langston@memstvx1.memst.edu writes:
>>
>>  As a student of cognitive science, I find myself thinking about thinking
>>quite a bit.  I came across a chapter one day (the reference, for now,
>>escapes me) that suggests that thought (read: ideas) may develop through
>>some form of evolutionary process.
> 
-> Let me suggest that while you are pondering the use of NN's to implement
-> your idea you learn more about metacognition.
-> 
-> 
-> -- 
-> Linc, James Internet: Gowj@solar.nova.edu, Gowj@novavax.nova.edu


Precisely. Let me share my crazy experience - When I first read Plato's 
Meno, I found it almost repulsive - what with all that obbscure talk about
soulism. Now, having spent considerable time being enchanted by neural nets, 
I can look at Meno with a slightly  different perspective. 
The notion of people being born with knowledge, and their task in life merely
comprising of the struggle to refresh their memories seems okay when I
interpret it as follows: every system(being) that is endowed with neurons has
the potential to develop and strenghthen optimal connections. Hence learning
merely involves refining existing connections. 
Now all I need is to interpret the concept of 'soul' in a 'digestible' fashion. 
Anyone care to help?


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	To be wilder                         R 
	than my wildest imagination            O
	Or                                       N         A
	to retrain                                 N         S
	my wildest imagination                       Y         H
	That                                                     A
	is the question                                            R
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