Sorry, I mean REAL neural systems, beginning with simple organisms like hydra.
> Within PCP, this
>
>What do you mean by 'this'?
I mean the view of these kinds of neural organisms as embodying hierarchies
of goals and desires.
>> I express these ideas in a branch of mathematics called Discrete
>> Mathematics. It's a standard course in a computer science curriculum,
>> and there are many good textbooks. Our school used Gersting,
>> Mathematical Structures for Computer Science, but if I was teaching
>> the subject, I'd search for a better one.
>
>Mathematics is not very good for me, sinse my training in it is
>lowsy. This is why I liked that ecology book I talked about so much.
>They expressed the ideas by reference on ecosystems, what I do know
>about.
In my opinion, a basic facility with the fundamental concepts of
mathematics, both continuous, through calculus, and discrete, of the kind
we're discussing here, is absolutely essential to work generally in systems
science and cybernetics. I put the discrete and continuous branches on a
par, although typically our training in the continuous side is far superior
to the discrete. And I'm not talking about anything advanced, just what
would be covered in America in an undergraduate curriculum of some non-math
or CS major who just wanted essential familiarity with scientific and
computer-scientific work.
By the way, I think the same thing can be said about a basic education in
physics, biology, philosophy, sociology, etc. It's just that it bites you
harder and faster with the math.
O---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
| Cliff Joslyn, NRC Research Associate, Cybernetician at Large
| Mail Code 522.3, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| joslyn@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/joslyn 301-286-5773
V All the world is biscuit-shaped. . .