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I usually start by my definition of understanding: you understand X,
when your mental model of X is complete enough that you can run
mental simulations of it, check what-if cases, and look at the
causal relations between parts. I understand long division and
classical mechanics, I do not understand most of economics.<br>
<br>
An insight would then be a jump in understanding. Ideally leading to
a fairly complete understanding, but there are smaller insights too
(getting the special properties of central forces and potentials
were two key insights for me in mechanics). Some insights are
unexpected, others gradual. What happens is that your mental model
becomes (1) better and (2) more compressed - while before there were
lots of random facts and examples, now they fit into a pattern. <br>
<br>
As Jurgen Schmidthuber likes to say, cognition is all about
compression. The problem is that compressing evidence into a model
can be NP or worse (consider figuring out the best explanation of a
bit string generated by a hidden computer program). <br>
<br>
We can become better at generating some kinds of insights by
learning the right tools, whether they are pattern-recognition and
-handling skills, a rich set of analogies to other things, or search
mechanisms inside or outside our minds. This will not work on all
problems; the meta-skill of knowing what tools might help is also
useful. Some insights may require shifting strategy radically if
one's current strategy set is not working. <br>
<br>
I think this might provide a reasoned way of looking at the use of
psychedelics or other strategy-scrambling tools: viewed as an
exploration-exploitation problem in a reinforcement learning
setting, you want to temporarily increase the temperature of your
softmax action selection when you have evidence that you need to
explore outside the low-value already explored region of the world
or mostly used action set. It wouldn't surprise me if one could
prove some optimal temperature-regulation strategies in some world
models. <br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2015-12-22 01:52, William Flynn
Wallace wrote:<br>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<p dir="ltr">will wrote: Was asking WFW how he thinks insight
operates. Same question to everyone, though: to propose the
most parsimonious logical model of insight possible, or, if
not logical, what a substitute for that logic might be.</p>
<p>For me science has to start with some definition of terms.
My 'model' bad term is 'instinct', which is defined dozens
of ways and so has little meaning for me. So ask me what
instinct is and I ask you what definition do you want?</p>
<p>So do the same for insight.</p>
<p>For something very off the cuff, I'd say that insight, if
it proves to be true in some sense, is seeing a pattern that
you, and maybe no one else, has seen. Of course we see many
patterns that turn out to be false, like, in the extreme,
paranoid delusions.</p>
<p>As to where it comes from, it comes from the unconscious,
like everything else. So what we need to do is to discover
the operations of the unconscious, which might prove to be
something not totally dissimilar from what Freud said about
it. <br>
</p>
<p>All this focus on consciousness is misplaced. It is just a
tool of the unconscious. I won't be alive then, but would
be extremely interested in what Freud wrote about the
scientific nature of the unconscious, which will be revealed
when 100 years have passed since his death (2038 or close to
that), according to his will (unless someone has stolen a
look at it and I don't know about it).</p>
<p>Without googling it, I think it's called Project for a
Scientific Psychology.</p>
<p>bill w<br>
</p>
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<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 2:57 PM, Dan
TheBookMan <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:danust2012@gmail.com" target="_blank">danust2012@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="auto"><span
style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">This paper
might interest some of you:</span><br>
<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/klein/PdfPapers/DiscoveryandtheDeepself.pdf"
style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"
target="_blank"><font color="#000000">http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/klein/PdfPapers/DiscoveryandtheDeepself.pdf</font></a></div>
<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Very
Arthur Koestler feel to it, no? Of course, it seems to
say it's going outside s framework is part of the
discovery or insight process.<br>
<br>
</span><span class="">
<div style="line-height:normal"><span
style="line-height:20px;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Regards,</span></div>
<div style="line-height:normal"><span
style="line-height:20px;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div>
<div style="line-height:normal"><span
style="line-height:20px;background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Dan</span></div>
<div style="line-height:normal"><span
style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">
Sample my Kindle books via:</span></div>
<div style="line-height:normal"><font
style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"
color="#000000"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://author.to/DanUst"
style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"
target="_blank">http://author.to/DanUst</a></font></div>
</div>
</span></div>
</div>
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<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University</pre>
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