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Single Idea 4998

[filed under theme 17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 4. Connectionism ]

Full Idea

In a connectionist system, information is represented not by sentences but by the total distribution of connection strengths.

Gist of Idea

Instead of representation by sentences, it can be by a distribution of connectionist strengths

Source

Robert Kirk (Mind and Body [2003], §7.6)

Book Ref

Kirk,Robert: 'Mind and Body' [Acumen 2003], p.149

A Reaction

Neither sentences (of a language of thought) NOR connection strengths strike me as very plausible ways for a brain to represent things. It must be something to do with connections, but it must also be to do with neurons, or we get bizarre counterexamples.

The 15 ideas from 'Mind and Body'

4982 Dualism implies some brain events with no physical cause, and others with no physical effect [Kirk,R]
4986 A weaker kind of reductionism than direct translation is the use of 'bridge laws' [Kirk,R]
4984 All meaningful psychological statements can be translated into physics [Kirk,R]
4985 If mental states are multiply realisable, they could not be translated into physical terms [Kirk,R]
4990 The inverted spectrum idea is often regarded as an objection to behaviourism [Kirk,R]
4991 Behaviourism seems a good theory for intentional states, but bad for phenomenal ones [Kirk,R]
4992 In 'holistic' behaviourism we say a mental state is a complex of many dispositions [Kirk,R]
4993 If a bird captures a worm, we could say its behaviour is 'about' the worm [Kirk,R]
4994 Behaviourism offers a good alternative to simplistic unitary accounts of mental relationships [Kirk,R]
4995 Behaviourists doubt whether reference is a single type of relation [Kirk,R]
5000 Behaviourism says intentionality is an external relation; language of thought says it's internal [Kirk,R]
4997 It seems unlikely that most concepts are innate, if a theory must be understood to grasp them [Kirk,R]
4998 Instead of representation by sentences, it can be by a distribution of connectionist strengths [Kirk,R]
4999 For behaviourists language is just a special kind of behaviour [Kirk,R]
5001 Maybe we should see intentionality and consciousness as a single problem, not two [Kirk,R]