chertok%ucbkim%Berkeley@sri-unix.UUCP (09/20/84)
From: chertok%ucbkim@Berkeley (Paula Chertok) BERKELEY COGNITIVE SCIENCE PROGRAM Fall 1984 Cognitive Science Seminar -- IDS 237A TIME: Tuesday, September 25, 11 - 12:30 PLACE: 240 Bechtel Engineering Center DISCUSSION: 12:30 - 2 in 200 Building T-4 SPEAKER: John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford University TITLE: What is common sense thinking? ABSTRACT: Common sense thinking includes a certain collection of knowledge and certain reason- ing ability. Expert knowledge including scientific knowledge fits into the framework provided by common sense. Common sense knowledge includes facts about the conse- quences of actions in the physical and psychological worlds, facts about the pro- perties of space, time, causality and physi- cal and social objects. Common sense rea- soning includes both logical deductive and various kinds of non-monotonic reasoning. Much common sense knowledge is not readily expressible in words, and much that can be usually isn't. The lecture will attempt to survey common sense knowledge and common sense reasoning. It will be oriented toward expressing the knowledge in languages of mathematical logic and expressing the reasoning as deduction plus formal non-monotonic reasoning.