Predictive Minds: Old Problems and New Challenges

Predictive Minds: Old Problems and New Challenges
Author: Manuel Curado
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2023-10-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1648897851

The Predictive Processing Theory of Mind is a recent theory developed by philosophers, cognitive scientists, and neuroscientists about the nature and function of the brain and its role in creating the conscious mind that we humans, and perhaps some non-human animals, have. The authors that advanced those lines of research believe that there is a fundamental idea that has been overlooked in the research done about the brain until the present: that the brain is a prediction machine with the function of creating hypotheses about the causes of our sensory signals and predictions of possible future sensory signals. Moreover, the internal models of the world created this way are constantly challenged by incorporating the errors of the previous models into new models. From this point of view, the brain's work could be described as a process of making predictions about the upcoming sensory data based on its best current models of the causes of those data. This book intends to critically analyze this theory and its subsequent theoretical and empirical consequences. To achieve that, the volume brings together some of the best experts on Predictive Processing – such as Thomas Metzinger, Wanja Wiese, or Mark Miller – with the goal of presenting some of the advantages of this approach but also some of its caveats.

Brain-mind

Brain-mind
Author: Paul Thagard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2019
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0190678712

"Brain-Mind presents a unified, brain-based theory of cognition and emotion, with applications to the most complex kinds of thinking, right up to consciousness and creativity. Unification comes from systematic application of Chris Eliasmith's powerful new Semantic Pointer Architecture, a highly original synthesis of neural network and symbolic ideas about how the mind works. Thagard will show the relevance of semantic pointers to a full range of important kinds of mental representations, from sensations and imagery to concepts, rules, analogies, and emotions. Neural mechanisms can then be used to explain many phenomena concerning consciousness, action, intention, language, creativity, and the self. Because of their broad importance, Thagard has tried to make Eliasmith's ideas accessible to a broad audience with no special background in neuroscience or mathematics. The value of a unified theory of thinking goes well beyond psychology, neuroscience, and the other cognitive sciences"--

Re-Inventing Our Lives

Re-Inventing Our Lives
Author: Mohamed Buheji
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2018-11-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1546298541

When we study socio-economic issues we are actually studying the way our lives are planned. This Handbook targets to re-invent the way we think and deal with challenges in our life journey by re-inventing how our mindsets can visualise complex problems. Patterns of problem structure and its activity profile are shown in relevant to discovering ‘hidden opportunities’ in the socio-economic issues. To re-invent the issues in our life the problem outcome is linked to both the problem scenarios and its visualised stories. Therefore, the dynamics of the socio-economic complex situations are explained based on the different ‘styles of thinking’ not the ‘competency of problem-solving’. The case studies in the handbook show how our social life affects our economic outcomes. Also, all the examples of dealing with problems in different ways pave the way for re-inventing our lives through re-inventing the way we deal with our communities and organisations chronic problems. Dr. Buheji in this first-ever “Handbook of Socio-Economic Problem Solving” shows how we can renew our ‘learning capacity’ and to extract factors that influence the problem outcome to come with “High” ‘multiplying effect’ model solutions. The diversified problem-solving techniques help the reader to build socio-economic perspectives. The reader would be challenged to explore the mindset of managing life frustrations that would make us create proper community solutions through visualising improved situations, inspiring change and creating meaningful wealth in our life journey. The book shows the link between the learning by involvement and learning by experience that lead to life breakthroughs. It is a personal challenge; so can you take it?

The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness

The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness
Author: Mark Solms
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2021-02-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0393542025

A revelatory new theory of consciousness that returns emotions to the center of mental life. For Mark Solms, one of the boldest thinkers in contemporary neuroscience, discovering how consciousness comes about has been a lifetime’s quest. Scientists consider it the "hard problem" because it seems an impossible task to understand why we feel a subjective sense of self and how it arises in the brain. Venturing into the elementary physics of life, Solms has now arrived at an astonishing answer. In The Hidden Spring, he brings forward his discovery in accessible language and graspable analogies. Solms is a frank and fearless guide on an extraordinary voyage from the dawn of neuropsychology and psychoanalysis to the cutting edge of contemporary neuroscience, adhering to the medically provable. But he goes beyond other neuroscientists by paying close attention to the subjective experiences of hundreds of neurological patients, many of whom he treated, whose uncanny conversations expose much about the brain’s obscure reaches. Most importantly, you will be able to recognize the workings of your own mind for what they really are, including every stray thought, pulse of emotion, and shift of attention. The Hidden Spring will profoundly alter your understanding of your own subjective experience.

A Companion to the Philosophy of Action

A Companion to the Philosophy of Action
Author: Timothy O'Connor
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2012-08-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1118394240

A Companion to the Philosophy of Action offers a comprehensive overview of the issues and problems central to the philosophy of action. The first volume to survey the entire field of philosophy of action (the central issues and processes relating to human actions) Brings together specially commissioned chapters from international experts Discusses a range of ideas and doctrines, including rationality, free will and determinism, virtuous action, criminal responsibility, Attribution Theory, and rational agency in evolutionary perspective Individual chapters also cover prominent historic figures from Plato to Ricoeur Can be approached as a complete narrative, but also serves as a work of reference Offers rich insights into an area of philosophical thought that has attracted thinkers since the time of the ancient Greeks

Practical Data Analytics for Innovation in Medicine

Practical Data Analytics for Innovation in Medicine
Author: Gary D. Miner
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 578
Release: 2023-02-08
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0323952755

Practical Data Analytics for Innovation in Medicine: Building Real Predictive and Prescriptive Models in Personalized Healthcare and Medical Research Using AI, ML, and Related Technologies, Second Edition discusses the needs of healthcare and medicine in the 21st century, explaining how data analytics play an important and revolutionary role. With healthcare effectiveness and economics facing growing challenges, there is a rapidly emerging movement to fortify medical treatment and administration by tapping the predictive power of big data, such as predictive analytics, which can bolster patient care, reduce costs, and deliver greater efficiencies across a wide range of operational functions. Sections bring a historical perspective, highlight the importance of using predictive analytics to help solve health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, provide access to practical step-by-step tutorials and case studies online, and use exercises based on real-world examples of successful predictive and prescriptive tools and systems. The final part of the book focuses on specific technical operations related to quality, cost-effective medical and nursing care delivery and administration brought by practical predictive analytics. Brings a historical perspective in medical care to discuss both the current status of health care delivery worldwide and the importance of using modern predictive analytics to help solve the health care crisis Provides online tutorials on several predictive analytics systems to help readers apply their knowledge on today’s medical issues and basic research Teaches how to develop effective predictive analytic research and to create decisioning/prescriptive analytic systems to make medical decisions quicker and more accurate

The Evolution of the Sensitive Soul

The Evolution of the Sensitive Soul
Author: Simona Ginsburg
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 665
Release: 2019-03-12
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0262039303

A new theory about the origins of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the evolutionary transition to basic consciousness. What marked the evolutionary transition from organisms that lacked consciousness to those with consciousness—to minimal subjective experiencing, or, as Aristotle described it, “the sensitive soul”? In this book, Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka propose a new theory about the origin of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the transition to basic consciousness. Using a methodology similar to that used by scientists when they identified the transition from non-life to life, Ginsburg and Jablonka suggest a set of criteria, identify a marker for the transition to minimal consciousness, and explore the far-reaching biological, psychological, and philosophical implications. After presenting the historical, neurobiological, and philosophical foundations of their analysis, Ginsburg and Jablonka propose that the evolutionary marker of basic or minimal consciousness is a complex form of associative learning, which they term unlimited associative learning (UAL). UAL enables an organism to ascribe motivational value to a novel, compound, non-reflex-inducing stimulus or action, and use it as the basis for future learning. Associative learning, Ginsburg and Jablonka argue, drove the Cambrian explosion and its massive diversification of organisms. Finally, Ginsburg and Jablonka propose symbolic language as a similar type of marker for the evolutionary transition to human rationality—to Aristotle's “rational soul.”

The Age of Em

The Age of Em
Author: Robin Hanson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2016
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0198754620

Robots may one day rule the world, but what is a robot-ruled Earth like? Many think that the first truly smart robots will be brain emulations or "ems." Robin Hanson draws on decades of expertise in economics, physics, and computer science to paint a detailed picture of this next great era in human (and machine) evolution - the age of em.

The Romance of Reality

The Romance of Reality
Author: Bobby Azarian
Publisher: BenBella Books
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2022-06-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1637740441

Why do we exist? For centuries, this question was the sole province of religion and philosophy. But now science is ready to take a seat at the table. According to the prevailing scientific paradigm, the universe tends toward randomness; it functions according to laws without purpose, and the emergence of life is an accident devoid of meaning. But this bleak interpretation of nature is currently being challenged by cutting-edge findings at the intersection of physics, biology, neuroscience, and information theory—generally referred to as “complexity science.” Thanks to a new understanding of evolution, as well as recent advances in our understanding of the phenomenon known as emergence, a new cosmic narrative is taking shape: Nature’s simplest “parts” come together to form ever-greater “wholes” in a process that has no end in sight. In The Romance of Reality, cognitive neuroscientist Bobby Azarian explains the science behind this new view of reality and explores what it means for all of us. In engaging, accessible prose, Azarian outlines the fundamental misunderstanding of thermodynamics at the heart of the old assumptions about the universe’s evolution, and shows us the evidence that suggests that the universe is a “self-organizing” system, one that is moving toward increasing complexity and awareness. Cosmologist and science communicator Carl Sagan once said of humanity that “we are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” The Romance of Reality shows that this poetic statement in fact rests on a scientific foundation and gives us a new way to know the cosmos, along with a riveting vision of life that imbues existence with meaning—nothing supernatural required.