From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!telos.ai.toronto.edu!maione Tue Nov 19 11:10:12 EST 1991
Article 1327 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!telos.ai.toronto.edu!maione
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
>From: maione@ai.toronto.edu (Ian Christopher Maione)
Subject: Re: Animal Intelligence vs Human Intelligence
Message-ID: <91Nov15.123414est.8261@telos.ai.toronto.edu>
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
References: <37311@shamash.cdc.com> <1991Oct24.234823.7560@hilbert.cyprs.rain.com> <37443@shamash.cdc.com> <1991Oct31.235402.12739@hilbert.cyprs.rain.com> <37658@shamash.cdc.com> <1991Nov02.075827.27740kmc@netcom.COM> <37713@shamash.cdc.com> <1991Nov05.08
4137.29880km <37859@shamash.cdc.com>
Date: 15 Nov 91 17:32:58 GMT
Lines: 57

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.
>
>There is a hierarchical relationship here: concepts are built on percepts,
>which in turn are built on sensations.  Sensations and percepts are
>always automatically formed by the nervous system, while concepts never
>are - they have to be formed by deliberately focusing the mind on reality
>in a particular way.  The topic of concepts depends on that of sense-
>perception, so I won't go into it in this posting.
>

>Mark A. Peters                              ****** ======================
>Control Data Corporation                    ****** == "What a save!!!" ==
>Internet: map@svl.cdc.com                   ****** == "What an idea!!" ==

   The question that comes to my mind here is who is doing the
"deliberate focusing the mind on reality in a particular way"?  How would
the formation of concepts be any less 'automatic' than any other process
going on in the brain?  I may be misreading your intended meaning here,
but if you're not careful, you will end up merely passing on the problem
to describing what "deliberate focusing" means.

Regards,
Ian


