17.4 Functional Autonomy


How do we invent new goals? By decomposition! Simpler subgoals eventually become detached from higher-order goals that they subserve, and evolve into more ambitious pursuits.

(NB: This is worrisome to me, because I find it hard to fit into the general practice of functional analysis. Perhaps what is missing from the section is the notion that as subgoals become more and more removed, the vocabulary required to meet the subgoal changes, and becomes more challenging. For instance, identifying a "red detector" is a simple functional goal, but explaining the biochemistry of light transductions is very complicated -- once the vocabulary shift is achieved!)


Pearl Street | Society Of Mind Home Page | Dawson Home Page |