The informational mind and the information integration theory of consciousness

According to Aleksander and Morton’s informational mind hypothesis, conscious minds are state structures that are created through iconic learning. Distributed representations of colors, edges, objects, etc. are linked with proprioceptive and motor information to generate the awareness of an out-there world. The uniqueness and indivisibility of these iconically learnt states reflect the uniqueness and indivisibility of the world. This article summarizes the key claims of the informational mind hypothesis and considers them in relation to Tononi’s information integration theory of consciousness. Some suggestions are made about how the informational mind hypothesis could be experimentally tested, and its significance for work on machine consciousness is considered

The informational mind and the information integration theory of consciousness

According to Aleksander and Morton’s informational mind hypothesis, conscious minds are state structures that are created through iconic learning. Distributed representations of colors, edges, objects, etc. are linked with proprioceptive and motor information to generate the awareness of an out-there world. The uniqueness and indivisibility of these iconically learnt states reflect the uniqueness and indivisibility of the world. This article summarizes the key claims of the informational mind hypothesis and considers them in relation to Tononi’s information integration theory of consciousness. Some suggestions are made about how the informational mind hypothesis could be experimentally tested, and its significance for work on machine consciousness is considered

Can you hear me now? : A study on oppression

This paper defines oppression and explores one particular methodology for dealing with oppressive issues in our youth. More specifically, it examines the devising process for this type of theatre

On thinking and the world: John McDowell's mind and world

How do concepts mediate the relation between minds and the world? This is the main topic of John McDowell's Mind and World where McDowell attempts to dissolve a number of dualisms making use of a particular philosophical methodology which I identify as a version of Wittgenstein's quietism. This thesis consists of a critical analysis of a number of dualisms which McDowell attempts to dissolve in Mind and World These include the Kantian dualism of sensibility and understanding, the dualism of conceptual versus non conceptual content, the dualism of scheme and content and the dualism of reason and nature. These dichotomies are all intricately intertwined and can be seen to be subsumed by the main topic of this thesis, namely, thinking and the world. McDowell persuasively draws attention to the unsustainability of particular philosophical positions between which philosophers have 'oscillated' such as coherentism and the given. However I claim that he does not go far enough in his attempt as a quietist to achieve peace for philosophy as traditional dichotomies such as that of realism and anti-realism still appear to exert a grip on his thinking. In this regard, 1 argue that, although McDowell’s work indicates the viability of quietism in addressing seemingly intractable philosophical positions, it would have gained by incorporating insights from European phenomenologists, such as Heidegger, who have been as intent as McDowell on reworking traditional dualisms. McDowell’s quietist methodology plays an important role in Mind and World and some of the criticism that has been directed towards his work displays a lack of appreciation of this method. I claim that a proper understanding of McDowell's version of quietism is important for a correct understanding of this text

Beyond Utility: An inductive investigation into non-utility factors influencing consumer adoption and use of ICT

This study explores the adoption and use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in a context marked by ubiquitous connectivity and intense social interaction. Research in the field has predominantly explored the topic within closed and private contexts, such as work and education environments. Resulting theories tend to lose predictive strength when transferred to open and social contexts. Specifically, theories often assume that behaviour is shaped exclusively by the utility derived from technological functions – an occurrence more common in closed and private settings. Other influencing factors, whilst acknowledged, tend to be sidelined or treated as exceptions. Further complexities arise as theorists misread and mistreat user perceptions and intentions. The study combines an inductive strategy with a Skinnerian radical behaviourist philosophical worldview. Individual accounts and group discussion about online social networking and smartphone ownership were captured in a natural social setting. A total of 35 technology users from Malta aged between 18 and 40 years participated in face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions. In contrast to other studies, verbal accounts and group interaction were treated and analysed as social behaviour and not as cognitive decision processes. Findings show that a more holistic understanding emerges if the social and internal dimensions are considered alongside environmental consequences. Results indicate that beyond utilitarian benefits, users also seek pleasure and social status whilst averting risk and minimising cost and disruption. The study shows that consumer ICTs are different from other technologies, such as cars and refrigerators, since these are tools specifically designed for application within verbal behaviour. ICTs can be applied as tools to communicate information, share past experiences, provide feedback to others, and confer social status on others. ICT applications elicit feedback from listeners and observers rather than cause measurable changes in the environment. The study builds on this insight by proposing a conceptual framework as an interpretative tool for practitioners and as a theoretic proposition for future inquiry

Pojem malfunkce v komplexních systémech

Práce se zabývá konceptem malfunkce a nemoci, které charakterizuje jako neobvyklé či nežádoucí chování daného komplexního systému. Podobnosti a rozdílnosti mezi umělou a přirozenou myslí, jednoduchými a komplexními systémy se ukáží jako důležité s ohledem na závěr, že duševní choroby nemusí být omezeny jen na lidksou mysl.The paper studies the concept of malfunction or illness, which are characterized by nonstandard or undesirable behaviour of the given complex systems. The parallels and differences between natural and artificial mind, simple and complex systems are shown to be crucial for the conclusion, that mental disorders must not be restricted to human minds.Department of LogicKatedra logikyFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

A Player’s Sense of Place: Computer Games as Anatopistic Medium

This project works to understand how open-world computer games help generate a sense of place from the player. Since their development over a half century ago, computer games have primarily been discussed in terms of space. Yet the way we think about space today is much different than how those scientists calculated space as a construction of time, mass, and location. But as computer games have evolved, the language has failed to accommodate the more nuanced qualities of game spaces. This project aims at articulating the nuances of place through phenomenological methods to objectively analyze the player experience as performed through various behaviors. Using a conceptual model that partially illustrates sense of place, I demonstrate how players create out of place—or anatopistic—places through play. After a historical survey of play as it is manifested through interaction with miniaturized environments, I turn to computer games as they have helped embody their creators’ sense of place. The third and fourth chapters offer a pair of case studies that reflect upon the experiences of the individual player and player groups. First, I compare virtual photography with tourism to reveal an array of sensibilities suggestive of the pursuit of place. This is followed with a look at Niantic’s Pokémon Go and how player groups use the game to act out ritualistic forms of play. Positioning the player as a “ludopilgrim,” I demonstrate how players perform individual or intersubjectively meaningful places as a form of transgressive placemaking

Attaining Scientific Literacy through a Rhetoric of Science Composition Pedagogy

For the past sixty years, acquiring scientific literacy has proven to be a daunting task in education, especially for undergraduate nonscience majors. Although some education scholars have recognized the importance and use of arguments to teach science, these pedagogical practices often are aimed at primary school children rather than college students or involve reporting science experiments rather than actually studying or constructing arguments about issues related to science.However, in this dissertation, I contend that educators often neglect a more available tool that not only examines arguments concerning scientific issues but also demonstrates the very heart of scientific literacy: critical thinking. In this project, I argue that a rhetoric of science course that teaches undergraduate nonscience majors to assess and engage the rhetorical components of scientific arguments provides a more pedagogically sound means of helping these students attain scientific literacy than the course designs in popular Introduction to Biology textbooks and their related course syllabi. In order to support this claim, I define and focus on the relationship of five main terms throughout this project as they pertain to the teaching of scientific literacy: science, scientific literacy, critical thinking, argumentation, and rhetoric. Science is a rhetorical practice through argumentation, and as I explain, argumentation fulfills the process of critical thinking, utilizing the analysis, evaluation, and creation of arguments. Applying an Aristotelian understanding of the term, rhetoric involves both the employment and discernment of the means of persuasion. From these terms, I establish that the attainment of scientific literacy is a rhetorical endeavor that necessitates the use of rhetoric of science, which is the analysis, evaluation, and creation of scientific arguments through composition.Examining three major Introduction to Biology textbooks and nine related course syllabi, I demonstrate that these courses generally emphasize learning facts rather than how to think critically about issues pertaining to science, and any writing required in these courses do not include composing arguments concerning issues related to science. In contrast, I demonstrate how a rhetoric of science that uses rhetorical criticism can be used to help nonscience majors attain scientific literacy as I define the term

Lala Land: A Discursive Ethnography of Professional Commercial Photographers

This research investigates the professional practice of commercial photography with prominence given to the significance of the relationship between the photographers’ professionalism and commerciality. It is based on evidence that emerged during two years of ethnographic fieldwork in Perth, Western Australia between August 2001 and January 2003. Having shifted from the analysis of photos to the analysis of practice, it draws on Foucault’s conception of discourse to analyse the knowledge, materiality and power that constitutes this relationship