[From Rick Marken (941205.1230)]
Well, if Bill gets his morning thoughts, I get some afternoon thoughts.
I was thinking that one way to state the message of PCT is in terms of "The
golden rule". There are two versions of this rule: 1) (the original) "do unto
others..." and 2) (the more recent) "the one with the gold rules". The
message of PCT is:
Version 1) of the golden rule is a good idea; version 2) is wrong.
In my post yesterday I responded to Bruce Abbott's question 2 on Thorndyke's
cat:
2. Do these changes have anything to do with the consequences of
pulling the string? Explain.
with:
Yes. Since pulling the string affects a physical variable (food) that
affects an intrinsic variable (nutrient level), control systems that
control perceptual variables such as "closeness to the string", "force
exerted on the string", etc., will tend to be built and/or connected to
existing control systems in the perceptual control hierarchy.
I don't like the phrase "tend to be built and/or connected"; in fact, the
chances of building a control structure that keeps an intrinsic variable
under control is alwasy the same (theoretically); when reorganization is
occuring there are just more attempts to build such structures.
A better way to say what I wanted to say might have been as foillows:
When reorganization results in control structures that allow the cat to
control perceptual variables that, as a the side effect, allow the reduction
of intrinsic error (the difference between perceived and reference nutrient
level), these control structures will tend NOT to be changed (reorganized)
because the reduction of intrinsic error reduces the rate of reorganization.
So a random structural change in the perceptual control hierarchy will tend
to be preserved (not reorganized away) if (as a side effect) the change
results in the reduction of intrinsic error.
Learning (from a PCT perspective) is not a matter of "strenthening"
responses that "work" (produce a particular result). PCT shows that organisms
don't learn responses; they learn to control perceptions (using whatever
responses are necessary, given environmental circumstances). Learning
(from a PCT perspective) occurs when control system structures (created by
reorganization) are built that are NOT LOST to further reorganization.
Best
Rick