Ch 1

Ch. 1. Standard Equipment

1. robot vs human; in a well designed system the components are black boxes

• the robot challenge: 1) visual system light/dark > shapes > objects, 3D>2D, rotation etc... reverse optics is ill posed, impossible yet we do it all the time IN REAL TIME! constant deadlines
• 2) movement: reverse kinematics and reverse dynamics; no animal has evolved to have wheels; legs; 6 legs > 4 legs still stable but 2 legs! unstable !!! yet we do it
• cannot treat everything as unique > categories; e.g. "bachelor"
  
• common sense is very hard to code into a machine
• Isaac Asimov's Fundamental Rules of Robotics: must program the machine to sustain itself
• emotions: self protection, care, love, agression must all be programmed
• visual areas of the brain can be damaged resulting in different perception 1) paying attention to only half of the visual field 2) everything grey and dim 3) see objects but not movement 4) cannot identify objects or faces
• identical twins reared apart: 1) entering the water backwards! 2) leaving little love notes for their wives ! etc.. 3) sneezing loudly in crowded elevators for fun !!! 4) flush the toilet before and after use !
• reverse engineering the psyche: AGENDA OF THE BOOK = The mind is a system of organs of computation, designed by natural selection to solve the kinds of problems our ancestors faced in their foraging way of life, in particular, understanding and outmaneuvering objects, animals, plants and other people.

• >>>computational theory of mind
• >>>evolutionary psychology
  
• Tooby and Cosmides < has been opposed, the mind should not be treated as evolutionary development but rather as culture
  
• >>> the common is really uncommon
• >>> brain is evolutionary != cultural development
• pregnancy sickness evidence that it is selected for > protects the embrio
• nature vs nurture debate is quite meaningless
  
• evolutionary doesn't mean human = ape or whale = cow, we do want to get to the differences
• behavior did not evolve, the mind did!
• Psychological correctness
• Standard Social Science Model SSSM > bad, except maybe that allowed some bad moral judgments to be eradicated; SSSM = fundamental division between biology and culture
• must separate science from morals
• 3 implications of innate human nature:
1. innate human nature implies innate human differences
1. Gloria Steinem: "There are really not many jobs that actually require a penis or a vagina, and all the other occupations should be open to everyone."
   
2. naturalistic fallacy: natural > good (even war, crimes etc)
3. genes control behavior: no responsibility for our actions

• confusion between goals of genes' (spreading themselves) and our goals (whatever our minds dictate: health, love, friends, work, maybe children)