![]() If we can understand how ordinary matter in the form of a machine can embody purpose, then we can also begin to understand how those three pounds of ordinary matter inside our skulls can embody purpose-and spirit, and will, and volition. But at base, their operation is the same. Obviously, the myriad feedback mechanisms that govern the brain are far more complex than any thermostat. It is a mental state that is invisible and ineffable, yet a natural phenomenon that is perfectly comprehensible.Īnd so it is in the mind, Wiener and his colleagues contended. ![]() And yet there is nothing you can point to and say, "Here it is-this is the psychological state called purpose." Rather, purpose in the thermostat is a property of the system as a whole and how its components are organized. It definitely embodies a purpose: to keep the room at a constant temperature. But more than that, it does indeed claim to bridge that ancient gulf between body and mind-between ordinary, passive matter and active, purposeful spirit. It arguably marks the beginning of what are now known as artificial intelligence and cognitive science: the study of mind and brain as information processors. ![]() ![]() “Through feedback, said Wiener, Bigelow, and Rosenblueth, a mechanism could embody purpose.Įven today, more than half a century later, that assertion still has the power to fascinate and disturb. ![]()
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