Category Archives: Inquiry

What part do arguments from authority play in mathematical reasoning?

In forming your answer you may choose to address any or all of the following aspects of the question: Descriptive What part do arguments from authority actually play in mathematical reasoning? Normative What part do arguments from authority ideally play … Continue reading

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Authority, Control, Control Theory, Cybernetics, Fixation of Belief, History of Mathematics, History of Science, Information, Information Theory, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Intelligent Systems, Intuition, Logic, Logic of Science, Mathematical Intuition, Mathematical Reasoning, Operations Research, Optimal Control, Optimization, Philosophy of Science, Scientific Method | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

C.S. Peirce : Information = Comprehension × Extension

Re: R.J. Lipton and K.W. Regan • A Most Perplexing Mystery The inverse relationship between symmetry and diversity — that we see for example in the lattice-inverting map of a Galois correspondence — is a variation on an old theme … Continue reading

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Comprehension, Diversity, Extension, Information, Information = Comprehension × Extension, Inquiry, Intension, Logic, Logic of Science, Peirce, Reciprocity, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Symmetry, Variety | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Revolt, Freedom, Passion

Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. By the mere activity of consciousness I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death — and I refuse suicide. I … Continue reading

Posted in Absurdity, Albert Camus, Existentialism, Freedom, Inquiry, Method, Nietzsche, Passion, Revolt, Sisyphus | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Absurdum Quid

I am thus justified in saying that the feeling of absurdity does not spring from the mere scrutiny of a fact or an impression, but that it bursts from the comparison between a bare fact and a certain reality, between … Continue reading

Posted in Absurdity, Albert Camus, Existentialism, Inquiry, Method, Peirce, Pragmatic Maxim, Pragmatism, Sisyphus, Tertium Quid, Thirdness, Triadicity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Way The Cookie Uncrumbles Itself

I put down the cup and turn to my mind.  It is up to my mind to find the truth.  But how?  What grave uncertainty, whenever the mind feels overtaken by itself;  when it, the seeker, is also the obscure … Continue reading

Posted in Anamnesis, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Inquiry Into Inquiry, Madeleine, Memory, Proust, Time | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Meno Acid

What answers to the Meno Paradox Comes in the moment of realizing — Gathering together the building blocks Is just the beginning of the building.

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science, Education, Inquiry, Learning, Meno, Philosophy, Plato, Teaching, Verse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Oracles

Computing, in its way, and science, in its broader way, both involve the relation between what appears limited and what appears not. Whether you believe in divinity or not, and whether you believe that humanity contains a spark of divinity … Continue reading

Posted in Communication, Computability, Computing, Inquiry, Oracles, Relative Computability, Science, Universals | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quotiens?

How many times do I repeat the same experience? Before I come to see it as the same experience?

Posted in Algorithms, Anamnesis, Arithmetic, Deja Vu, Education, Epistemology, Eternal Return, Inquiry, Learning, Meno, Music, Pattern Recognition, Plato, Poetry, Recursion, Repetition, Rhythm, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

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