larry@VLSI.JPL.NASA.GOV (05/03/88)
--
Gilbert Cockton & others: Please send me a few references to critiques of
System Theory. Also, are you referring to General Systems Theory?
--
I'm surprised that no one has brought up the distinction between will and
free will. The latter (in the philosophy courses I took) implies complete
freedom to make choices, which for humans seems debatable. For instance,
I don't see how anyone can choose an alternative that they do not know
exists.
There might be several reasons for this that cybernetics or computer or
information science can illuminate. (1) The data needed to gain some
knowledge cannot be input by the chooser's perception as, for example, there
have not yet been (conclusive) proof that any human can karoo therms.
(2) The knowledge is lacking in the chooser's memory. Few humans know, for
example, that in addition to moving up-down/forward-backward/left-right, we
can also move oolward-choward & uptime-downtime--though once explained most
find it easy to do. (3) The knowledge may be literally unthinkable because
humans don't have (e.g.) irtsle logic ciruitry. In these cases no amount of
explanation or observation (even with machine-aided perception) will supply
the needed understanding.
The above examples can be multiplied by more ordinary instances by reading
human-pathology or animal-cognition reports.
Larry @ jpl-vlsi