[ExI] meaning & symbols

[ablainey at aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
Ben Zaiboc <bbenzai at yahoo.com> wrote



>OK obviously this word 'symbol' needs some clear definition.

>I would use the word to mean any distinct pattern of neural activity that has a 
>relationship with other such patterns.  In that sense, sensory symbols exist, as 
>do (visual) word symbols, (auditory) word symbols, concept symbols, which are a 
>higher-level abstraction from the above three types, and hundreds of other types 
>of 'symbol', representing all the different patterns of neural activity that can 
>be regarded as coherent units, like emotional states, memories, linguistic units 
>(nouns, verbs, etc.), and their higher-level 'chunks' (birdness, the concept of 
>fluidity, etc.), and so on.
>
>But that's just me.  Maybe I'm overstretching the use of the word.
>
>What do other people mean by the word 'symbol', in this context?
>
>Gordon points out that they are all meaningless in themselves, only taking on a 
>meaning in the context of a system that can be called a conscious mind.
>
>I'm not sure if the 'conscious' part is necessary, though.  In any event, the 
>'meaning' arises as a result of the interaction of the symbols, grounded in the 
>system's interaction with its environment.
>
>To say that an organism's 'hunger', which results in it finding and consuming 
>food, is meaningless unless the organism is conscious, is rather a silly 
>statement, and calls into question what we mean by 'meaning'.
>
>Ben Zaiboc

I agree. The problem is that we are using linguistic symbols to which we give our own personal meaning
to debate a system that we do not fully understand and of which cannot effectively articulate our personal view.

I would go along with the notion that there are sense symbols and many others kinds. So In that context of
"Symbols" I dont think conciousness is necessary. Certainly not at a self awareness level. Does this 
exclude inteligence? I think our definitions need some tweaking.


 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20100203/1a5c75a0/attachment.html>