[From Bryan Thalhammer (2003.11.28.1:17pm CST)]
Folks,
This seems to be the original post, and I am just commenting on the
conflict/prediction of behavior here, but not necessarily on Bruce's post.
In agreement with some of the writers, behavior is random, that is, it is
always a part of the control of perception. There was some question as to
the difference between conflict between and within. It seems to me that the
model suggests that everything external is a disturbance, or that there is
no distinction among events in the environment, that one event is something
we are in conflict with, and that another is merely a disturbance to our
control of perception. So, yes, the conflict most often relevant to HPCT
then is within, among or between control systems making use of possible
behavior to reduce error. And I know I always get the terminology wrong, but
as I understand, you cannot have that kind of conflict between perceptual
control within and an outside event such as someone else's behavior.
Environmental effects are one thing, and internal control conflicts are
another.
Ok, that being said, earlier this morning on NPR, I heard this interesting
presentation on the Physics of Fish. Something about the way that fish act
in moving water. You can listen to it online:
NPR's Morning Edition
Program for Friday, November 28, 2003
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=28-Nov-2003&prgId=3
Search down the page: "The Physics of Fish"
"Fish have developed a neat trick that helps them swim upstream. When water
flows past objects in a stream, it develops a string of small whirlpools, or
"vortices." A researcher simulated this environment in a tank outfitted with
a high-speed camera. They found that fish slalomed in between the vortices
and used the energy of each one to help propel them forward -- much the same
way that a boater uses a sail to tack back and forth in the wind. NPR's
Christopher Joyce reports."
There appears to be a reason why animals occur in groups: that they have
found a local minimum of effects in the vortices not only in behavior but in
body shape. An interaction between random environmental effects and random
behavior that seems to facilitate movement. That fish and birds can sense
these vortices and move as flocks without conflict is very interesting,
then, because it suggests a reason why we think we can read minds, be in
conflict or in alignment with another's actions. As Bruce writes below,
there seems to be a "survival level system" that kicks into action. The
researcher called it Wu-Wei or going with the flow. Maybe this can be a
metaphor for the way behavior is random, yet seemingly able to control
perceptions? We can explain this with HPCT, or no?
I havent got it perfectly laid out, but then this is only a newsgroup post.
At any rate, I thought immediately of PCT when I heard the article.
--Bryan
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-----Original Message-----
From: Control Systems Group Network (CSGnet)
[mailto:CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU]On Behalf Of Bruce Gregory
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 12:34 PM
To: CSGNET@LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU
Subject: Conflict in HPCT[From Bruce Gregory (2003.11.25.03)]
Let me know if I have this right. Both my higher level control systems
and control systems associated more directly with survival establish
reference levels for the same lower level systems such as those which
determine whether my foot is on the the accelerator or the brake.
Getting to work is presumably under control of a fairly high level
system. This goal requires me to keep my foot on the accelerator and
maintain a speed of 75 mph. If the brake lights on the car in front of
me brighten, my survival level system rapidly moves my foot to the
brake and slams it down. This action would set up conflict with the
higher level goal, but the time constants are such that this system
will not attempt to restore my foot to the accelerator until the
problem has been sorted out. (Though not a part of HPCT, one could
imagine a model in which the survival system inhibits the higher level
goals, but this is not demanded by existing data.)Bruce Gregory