Author Archives: Jon Awbrey

Poems and Programs

Words that do … A trendy misunderstanding has reared its head as to what the discipline of computing, indeed the logic of science, are all about.  I blame Penrose, of course, but he is only the most recent promulgator of … Continue reading

Posted in Aesthetics, Artistic Differences, Computability, Effective Description, Ethics, Existential Choice, Finitude, Form, Imagination, Information, Inquiry, Limitation, Logic of Science, Matter, Mortality, Poetry, Programming, Volition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I Wonder, Wonder Who

Re: R.J. Lipton and K.W. Regan • Who Invented Boolean Functions? The question recalls recent discussions of discovery and invention in the mathematical field, bringing back to mind questions I’ve wondered about for as long as I can remember. Speaking … Continue reading

Posted in Anamnesis, Aristotle, Boole, Boolean Functions, C.S. Peirce, Discovery, Invention, Learning, Logic, Mathematics, Meno, Model Theory, Peirce, Plato, Propositional Calculus, Recollection, Semiotics, Socrates, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Notes On Categories • 1

Continued from “Notes On Categories” (14 Jul 2003) • Inquiry List • Ontology List NB.  This page is a work in progress.  I will have to dig up some still older notes from the days of pen and paper before … Continue reading

Posted in Abstraction, Category Theory, Computing, Graph Theory, Logic, Mathematics, Relation Theory, Type Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Theme One • A Program Of Inquiry 4

Re: Next Polymath Project • What, When, Where? Here’s a bit of data on the Theme One Program I worked on all through the 1980s.  My aim was to develop fundamental algorithms and data structures to support an integrated learning … Continue reading

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, C.S. Peirce, Cognition, Computation, Constraint Satisfaction Problems, Cybernetics, Formal Languages, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Intelligent Systems, Learning Theory, Logic, Peirce, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Château Descartes

But if we are to select those dimensions which will be of the greatest assistance to our imagination, we should never attend to more than one or two of them as depicted in our imagination, even though we are well … Continue reading

Posted in Analytic Geometry, Cartesian Coordinate System, Cartesian Philosophy, Cartesian Product, Descartes, Dualism, Dyadicism, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Reductionism, Relation Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Difference That Makes A Difference That Peirce Makes • 1

Being one who does not view Peirce’s work as a flickering foreshadowing of analytic philosophy, logical whatevism, or anything else you want to call it, but leans more to thinking of the latter philosophies as fumbling fallbacks losing what ground … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Inquiry, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Pragmatism, Science, Scientific Method, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ask Meno Questions • Code Meno Code

Adapted from Prospects for Inquiry Driven Systems The Trees, The Forest A sticking point of the whole discussion has just been reached. In the idyllic setting of a knowledge field the question of systematic inquiry takes on the following form: … Continue reading

Posted in Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, Automata, Education, Epistemology, Formal Language Theory, Formal Languages, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Intelligent Systems, Learning, Meno, Philosophy, Plato, Programming, Programming Languages, Socrates, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Duality Indicating Unity • 1

Re: R.J. Lipton • Mathematical Tricks A formal duality points to a higher unity — a calculus of forms whose expressions can be read in two different ways by switching the meanings assigned to a pair of primitive terms. I … Continue reading

Posted in Abstraction, C.S. Peirce, Duality, Form, Indication, Interpretation, Peirce, Unity | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Propositions As Types Analogy • 1

Re: R.J. Lipton • Mathematical Tricks One of my favorite mathematical tricks — it almost seems too tricky to be true — is the Propositions As Types Analogy. And I see hints the 2‑part analogy can be extended to a … Continue reading

Posted in Animata, C.S. Peirce, Combinator Calculus, Combinatory Logic, Curry–Howard Isomorphism, Graph Theory, Lambda Calculus, Logic, Logical Graphs, Mathematics, Proof Theory, Propositions As Types Analogy, Type Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Riffs and Rotes • 1

Re: Richard J. Lipton • Making Primes More Random There’s a study called generalized primes which investigates in a more general way the relationship between arbitrary elements called primes and the composites which can be formed from them according to … Continue reading

Posted in Arithmetic, Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Group Theory, Logic, Mathematics, Number Theory, Riffs and Rotes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments