[From Bruce Abbott (960725.1225 EST)]
Bruce Gregory 960724.1310 EDT) --
It _seems_ to me that feedback of the form "you're getting
warmer" or "you're getting colder" enhances, rather than
detracts from our ability to control. Enlighten me oh fierce
and terrible Marken...
Rick Marken (960724.1100) --
If you are controlling for hearing "you're getting warmer" then these phrases
are states of a controlled perception; they are not "feedback" (in the PCT
sense) and they are not disturbances (if they are not independent of you
actions -- and they aren't independent of your actions if someone has agreed
really enhance control; they are what IS controlled. You are trying to move
so that you keep hearing "you're getting warmer" until finally you hear "you
got it!"
It's a bit more complicated than that. The words "warmer" and "colder"
indicate whether one is approaching or retreating from the the goal. The
perception of the state of this variable (direction relative to goal) _feeds
back_ via the action to affect the perception.
A higher-level system has set the reference for this perception to
"approaching" (i.e., "warmer"); this action, operating through the
lower-level system, brings about the state of "approaching" until the
higher-level system's reference (being AT the goal) is satisfied, at which
time forward motion stops.
The lower-level system provides a nice example of e-coli style control:
Hearing "colder" leads to a change in direction; hearing "warmer" leads to
maintaining the current heading.
Regards,
Bruce