AI and cognitive psychology rant (getting more and more OT - tell me if I should shut up)

[Stephen Horne]

On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 19:33:17 +0200, anton at vredegoor.doge.nl (Anton
Vredegoor) wrote:

>Stephen Horne <steve at ninereeds.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Perception is not reality. It is only a (potentially flawed)
>>representation of reality. But reality is still real. And perception
>>*is* tied to reality as well as it can be by the simple pragmatic
>>principle of evolution - if our ancestors had arbitrary perceptions
>>which were detached from reality, they could not have survived and had
>>children.
>
>If we had the same perceptions about reality as our ancestors, we
>wouldn't reproduce very successfully now, because the world has
>changed as a result of their reproductive success.

Except for the fact that (1) people, at least those with power,
changed the world to suit themselves, and (2) the things that really
count for perception haven't changed - objects are still objects and
still follow the same laws of physics, for instance, even if there are
occasional novel touches such as some of those objects having engines.


-- 
Steve Horne

steve at ninereeds dot fsnet dot co dot uk