rubber band test; state diagrams; Minsky

[From Bill Powers (951112.0805 MST)]

Bruce Abbott --

I'm commenting on your rubber-band post direct to you, to give others a
chance to try before discussing answers.

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Bruce Abbott (951111.1730 EST) --

     A state diagram would be appropriate for sequences or programs, I
     would think. What does it mean to control a sequence? Do we not
     specify a sequence of perceptions (produced by control actions), in
     which bringing the first in the sequence to reference serves as the
     condition to start bringing the second to reference, etc.? If so,
     then I would think the sequence could be represented in a state
     diagram, with the transition from one state to the next being
     represented by the perception associated with a given state being
     brought to its reference level.

                    A state diagram of a program

                                      diagram represents a program
                                  /yes
Does state diag include a choice?
                                  \no
                                      diagram represents a sequence
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Shannon Williams (951111.late) --

     Instead of writing to Minsky, I am going to post to the
     ai.philosophy newsgroup.

Excellent! Good luck.
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Best to all,

Bill P.