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Article 1288 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: access@bambi.tamu.edu (James Goodlett)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Animal Intelligence vs Human Intelligence
Message-ID: <5868@tamsun.tamu.edu>
Date: 12 Nov 91 17:41:32 GMT
References: <37713@shamash.cdc.com> <1991Nov05.084137.29880km <37859@shamash.cdc.com>
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Organization: College of Architecture, Texas A&M University
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Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Animal Intelligence vs Human Intelligence
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References: <37713@shamash.cdc.com> <1991Nov05.084137.29880km <37859@shamash.cdc.com>
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Organization: College of Architecture, Texas A&M University
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In article <37859@shamash.cdc.com> map@svl.cdc.com writes:
>In <3873@papaya.bbn.com> cbarber@bbn.com (Chris Barber) writes:
>
>>In article <37802@shamash.cdc.com> map@svl.cdc.com (Mark Peters) writes:
>
>>>  Percept - The integration (by an organism's nervous system) of two or 
>>>            more sensations into a single mental unit.  The formation
>>>            of a percept is automatic, and it is the form in which an 
>>>            organism is aware of entities (as opposed to disconnected,
>>>            fleeting sensations.)
>>>
>>>  Concept - The mental integration of two or more percepts and/or
>>>            other concepts into a single mental unit.  The formation
>>>            of a concept is volitional, and proceeds on the basis
>>>            of observed similarities and differences between the
>>>            units subsumed by the concept.
>
>>I still think that these definitions are quite vague.  They depend upon
>>other terms whose meaning is not explained.  What is a "sensation"?
>>What does "single mental unit" mean?  In exactly what way can
>>sensations be put together into a percept?  Are percepts always
>>automatic?  Why would you form some percepts and not others?  What is
>>the difference between sensation when it is experienced and when it is
>>remembered?  What is "volitional", in fact, is there even such a thing
>>as volition?
>
>I left out "Sensation" because it wasn't requested, so:
>
>  Sensation - The automatic response of a sensory organ to the impingement
>              of an internal or external entity.
>
>Whatever it is that touch receptors send along a nerve in response to
>touching something is a sensation, similarly with whatever the eye
>sends along the optic nerve in response to a light ray hitting the
>retina, or what a taste bud sends in response to a sugar molecule, etc.
>

  I must beg to differ on this part of the discussion...it is erronous to say
we as humans, can take in just two (re: of two or more sensations into a 
single mental unit) sensorial signals...humans sensorial information is
not a cartesian occurance...the signals can not segmented...it is a systems
action and or response...we can no more just see and hear something as we
can just smell or taste something...all the five senses are alive and 
kicking...and the combined input of them with with past percieved 
experiences help to augment new experiences... what differs is the 
amplitude of the sensorial signal...the higher the amplitude of the 
sensorial siganl leads most humans to say, "did you see that wave, did you
smell that flower"...yet the rest of the sensorial signals combined
make up our perception of that experience...
	pardon for the interruption of the discussion, but it is a highly
critical distinction that renders the rest of the discussion somewhat 
pointless...

jim goodlett
college of architecure
texas A&M university
access@archone.tamu.edu
ymjim@ttacs1.ttu.edu

.





