-From Tracy Harms (970305.1330 PST)
Rick Marken (970305.0830 PST)
Wilson's idea (like that of all, save Powers, who have applied
control theory to behavior) is that the feedback loop controls
_actions_. This notion is perfectly ridiculous but it is also perfectly
consistent with the prevailing input-output view of behavior.
To say again what's been said before, the ridiculous part is that it leaves
untouched the hard part: the explanation of the sort of calculations which
the open-loop approach assures us must exist. A bottomless pit of
complexity becomes apparent once one stops waving hands and starts trying
to complete that picture. Once appreciated, this makes all open-loop
explanations look like that famous cartoon where the formula on the
blackboard contains, smack dab in the middle, "then a miracle occurs."
It may
seem like a small step from the idea that behavior
is controlled action (the conventional view) to the idea that
behavior is controlled perception (the PCT view). But people have
a lot of very good (and very mundane) reasons for not taking that step.
So we bide our time writing Java demos;-)Best
Rick
Mundane incentives like getting papers published, getting tenure, and not
having to admit to the public that millions of students have, at high
tuition, been systematically miseducated? Yeah.
Tracy Bruce Harms
harms@hackvan.com