We may end this chapter by exposing a paradox. What has been argued is, in effect, this: If the mechanism of concept learning is the projection and confirmation of hypotheses (and what else could it be), then there is a sense in which there can be no such thing as learning a new concept. (Fodor, 1979, p. 25)
Computer technology is now entering a new phase, one in which it will no longer be necessary to specify exactly how the problem is to be solved. Instead, it will only be necessary to provide an exact statement of the problem in terms of a "goal" and the "allowable expenditure," in order to allow the evolution of a best program by the available computation facility. . . . The old saw "the computer never knows more than the programmer" is simply no longer true. (Fogel, Owens, & Walsh 1966, p. 113)
[HOME] [NEXT]One profound advantage chaos may confer on the brain is that chaotic systems continually produce novel activity patterns. We propose that such patterns are crucial to the development of nerve cell assemblies that differ from established assemblies. More generally the ability to crate activity patterns may underlie the brain's ability to generate insight and the "trials" of trial-and-error problem solving. (Freeman, 1991, p. 85)