[Avery.Andrews 930902.1635]
(Bill Powers (930902.2130 MDT))
This scenario of mine seems to have had an unfortunate effect - I did
forget a class, but a student came and fetched me, so it was all right.
I'm not sure whether no trans-individual system has emerged yet because
there isn't any there, or because I'm not done yet - it seems to me that a good
way to address the issue is to examine a kind of organization that many
of us have had experience in, and see what comes up. Interactions
between the Dean, HoD and maybe some secretaries is where I'd expect the
trans-individual c.s. to be found, if anywhere. Hopefully the analysis
will grow, & we'll see what emerges.
I don't know about the prolog-like stuff. I think it can be argued that
the Dean is using some kind of propositionally encoded knowledge. A new
Dean, for example, might not know the names of all of the people in his
faculty. But the sentence `Andrews in the linguistics department has
skipped three classes for no known valid reason' will suffice to trigger
action. This is the sort of thing that logic seems to good for (unlike
beer-getting), and I couldn't think of any other way that the right
kinds of action might be initiated. Counter-proposals welcomed.
Avery.Andrews@anu.edu.au
From Tom Bourbon [930903.1024]
Just a brief comment for now (audible sigh of relief from Avery!), or else
my Hod will notice that Bourbon is absent from a Friday morning department
meeting and I might discover that organizations are control systems, after
all.
[Avery.Andrews 930902.1635]
(Bill Powers (930902.2130 MDT))
..
I'm not sure whether no trans-individual system has emerged yet because
there isn't any there, or because I'm not done yet - it seems to me that a good
way to address the issue is to examine a kind of organization that many
of us have had experience in, and see what comes up. Interactions
between the Dean, HoD and maybe some secretaries is where I'd expect the
trans-individual c.s. to be found, if anywhere. Hopefully the analysis
will grow, & we'll see what emerges.
Happy hunting. If we were making side bets on the chances of your finding a
trans-individual contrl system, you know which way I would bet. But that
doesn't mean I see no value in the hunt.
I don't know about the prolog-like stuff. I think it can be argued that
the Dean is using some kind of propositionally encoded knowledge. A new
Dean, for example, might not know the names of all of the people in his
faculty. But the sentence `Andrews in the linguistics department has
skipped three classes for no known valid reason' will suffice to trigger
action. This is the sort of thing that logic seems to good for (unlike
beer-getting), and I couldn't think of any other way that the right
kinds of action might be initiated. Counter-proposals welcomed.
The prolog-pctish combination sounds promising. There is a real need to
extend our modeling into the levels you are pursuing.
Time to avoid the notice of my HoD.
Later,
Tom
Tom Bourbon
Department of Neurosurgry
University of Texas Medical School-Houston Phone: 713-792-5760
6431 Fannin, Suite 7.138 Fax: 713-794-5084
Houston, TX 77030 USA tbourbon@heart.med.uth.tmc.edu