On the Idea of Neural Networks

Have you ever stopped to think about your existence. To think about your conscious mind and the fact that it exists when it more easily could have not. Each of us is here by chance. We were the lucky egg. And what does it mean to even have a conscience? This is the question that troubles both scientists and psychologists today. It revolves around the idea of cognitive science. But what even is cognitive science? One comprehensive definition is that cognitive science is the study of the mind and its interdisciplinary processes. But as we have started to notice in our class and discussions, the mind can be a confusing topic of conversation. “Handy Guide”, by Dean Young, puts an interesting twist on the idea of cognitive science, and I believe the poem successfully embodies one of the reasons the mind is so difficult to understand. This is because the world looks different to each beholder.

            In “Handy Guide” Young stresses the theme that what we see in the world is based completely on the viewer’s perspective and mind.

“My dragon may be your neurotoxin

Your electrocardiogram may be my fortune cookie.”

What does it even mean, to compare a dragon to a neurotoxin?! Dragons symbolize strength and power, and a neurotoxin is something that has the ability to infect the mind. Not only does this image outline the idea that people see the world differently, but it also plays on the idea that the mind is easily tainted. This serves to tie the idea of cognitive science to neuroscience. If the mind is truly a manifestation created by the brain, then one would think that altering that part of the brain responsible for creating the mind would indeed affect our cognitive abilities. We saw this in Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”, where damage to Louisa’s brain led to a personality shift, thus making her seem like an entirely different person. So where does the connect between the neurological part of the brain start? This is a questions that has puzzled researchers for decades, and solving this mystery would bridge the gap needed to make advances in terms of understanding of cognitive science, theory of mind, and development of AI.

            Furthermore, my favorite line from the poem is, “The minor adjustments in our equations/ still indicate the universe is insane.” The idea that the universe can even be “insane” suggests that it has a mind. Whoa. There’s a thought. Can the universe think? Or does this, perhaps, suggest that there is a universal train of thought? I’m not suggesting that people all think the same. In fact, if anything, Young shows us how individual differences cause us all to see the world in our own unique way. But there are some things that are indeed universal. People believe that they are mortal. People believe that the Earth is real, and that they are not the only person here. There are universal, seemingly natural, thoughts that we all share. But what does this mean for cognitive science? It seems to suggest that maybe there is a possible model for the mind that can be created. While we are not there yet, several advances have been made in this area in recent years.  

            One of these models involves the idea of neural networks. Neural networks are thought to essentially “map” human thought. Here is an example of a connectionist model, which is a theory about how human thoughts may be mapped in the brain: http://itee.uq.edu.au/~cogs2010/cmc/home.html. Specific pieces of information have connections in the brain, which overlap and connect to other pieces of information. The idea is that this would basically create a giant web of thoughts, which our mind can navigate in the blink of an eye when retrieving information.

            But what becomes complicated is when these networks are not the same for everyone. One person may connect the idea of skydiving with joy, while another connects it with the death of a family member – “My dragon may be your neurotoxin.” This relationship could lead to different mappings. Brain plasticity may allow for changes in neural maps as well. This makes it extremely difficult to come up with models that work for all human cognition, which leaves much room for discussion and exploration.

What Came First, Emotion or the Mind?

Emotion is universal. You can travel to any inhabited land across the world and find that people all experience sadness, happiness, anger, jealousy, love, etc., regardless of their culture, education, or social status. In fact, emotion is often one of the easiest ways to connect with another individual. But what creates emotion? According to Damasio in “Of Appetites and Emotion”, we like to think that “the hidden is the source of the expressed” (P. 29). The term hidden refers to feelings. Damasio claims, in his article, that feelings are the source of emotion. My favorite statement by Damasio is “Emotions play out in the theater of the body. Feelings play out in the theater of the mind” (p. 28). This statement puts the ideas of feelings and emotions into perspective and the visual brain. First of all, it seems very logical that feelings are more internal and emotions are more external. Feelings seem much more like thoughts than emotions do, and they are therefore much easier to keep hidden, within the theater of the mind. Emotions, on the other hand, have the connotation of making themselves known much more easily and being much more difficult to hide. This is where the phrase “wearing your emotions on your sleeve” came from. However, which came first, feelings or emotions? Most people think of them as being connected, but does this mean that they are the same thing? Well, this can’t be true; we have established that feelings are more internal and emotions are more external. Damasio argues, in his article, that emotions came before feelings. The reason he gives for this is evolution. This seems to touch also on theory of mind. If emotion came first and feelings second, then this seems to suggest to the brain came before the mind, and the mind developed later. But wait…haven’t we discussed that the mind is part of the brain? If it developed later, then where were our thoughts before the mind? Did we still have them?

            In relation to the article by Damasio discussing the ideas of feeling and emotion, the primary article of this week that included three poems also revolved around the topics of feeling and emotion. The first one, “Want me”, by Melissa Stein encompasses the idea of desire. Desire is a much easier feeling to feel than it is an emotion to express. This is seen even in the poem itself. Stein uses jumbled diction, and each idea seems unfinished, thrown together almost as if a running stream of thoughts. For example, the line “A duet for cello

and woodsmoke, violin and icicle” seems extremely jumbled. In fact, it seems as if it should read ‘A duet for cello and violin, woodsmoke and icicle.” This mixing of ideas creates not only a confused feeling, but it also helps express the idea of desire. Desire, as an emotion and a feeling, it often thought to be overwhelming and overpowering. The jumbling of words seems to almost suggest that the desire itself is overpowering the writer’s ability to keep words straight. This again stresses the idea that desire itself is more a thought-based feeling, rather than an expressed emotion.

            In the second poem, “Dreamsong”, by John Berryman, the author expresses the idea of boredom. In this case, boredom serves to be more of a lack of emotion and feeling than anything else. The author uses extreme sarcasm and several examples of instances in which he believes other people generally find amusement, in which he does not. He even mentions his mother speaking of boredom, telling his as a boy that “Ever to confess you're bored means you have no Inner Resources.” The author’s mother seems to be referring to feelings with the term “Inner Resources”. The author, admitting to being bored, also admits that he is lacking these inner thoughts, or feelings. Therefore, since emotion and feeling are attached, it can be concluded that he lacks both. He stresses this idea at the end of the poem when speaking of a dog, which is generally a happy or joyful experience for most people. He speaks of the dog leaving, stating it “has taken itself & its tail considerably away into the mountains or sea or sky, leaving behind: me, wag.” The term “wag” seems to poke fun at the dog for its happiness, and by pairing this word along with the reference to himself, he stresses even more the fact that he lacks this happiness or joy, and thus emotion.

            These two poems address a few of the many feelings and emotions that are known to mankind. In fact, some would say that these are limitless. It is interesting to think about these feelings and emotions, especially with the idea of the mind at hand. How do things such as boredom and desire originate, and where does the mind play a role in comparison to the body and brain. This, I think, is a very intriguing idea, especially when it comes to theory of mind. It touches on one of the most difficult challenges that exists in science currently with fully understanding the mind, and that is the idea of emotion and feeling, which have yet to be completely understood. Doing so would allow us to make further advances not only with things such as Artificial Intelligence and brain modeling, but also with understanding why people’s mind are so different from one another.

Bookworms: Nerds or Social Butterflies?

            As an active reader, I am fully aware of the stereotypes that are generally associated with people who read for fun. In general, people tend to picture people like me as quiet, timid hermits who would rather sit in a room alone buried in countless boring pages rather than enjoy the real world and the people in it. However, those who share my enjoyment for reading understand that reading is much more than a pass-time; it allows to you explore another world. However, what few tend to consider when judging those who read is the fact that, in general, most reader’s book of choice is not a textbook. I personally have found few non-fiction books that I enjoy reading with the same vigor as I do a fictional story involving dragons and princesses. While I do not doubt there are a select few who choose history books over Harry Potter, I can safely say that this is not true of me. But what does this tell us about all the bookworms then? In fact, research has been done within the past few years that actually shows that readers of fiction actually tend to have high social abilities.

This week I opted to read the paper, “Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction

versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional

social worlds”, by Mar et al. (2005). I found this study to not only be very intuitive and easy to relate to, but also strikingly similar to several observations that I have made regarding “Persuasion” by Jane Austen. Not only does it pinpoint several things that have been mentioned in class discussion, but it also can be related to the concluding events of the book as well. In my blog this week I plan to explore the results and implications of this study as well as the implications that can be made about “Persuasion”.

            In “Bookworms versus nerds”, Mar et al. (2005) examine the correlation between social abilities and readers of fiction compared to non-fiction. In order to do this, participants completed a series of surveys, where they were asked to indicate from a list which authors they had heard of before. They were strongly discouraged from guessing, and were told that there were some people listed who were not, in fact, authors. It was accepted that exposure to authors generally accompanies activities that relate to the act of reading itself, so this was taken to be a reliable measure. Results found that familiarity with fiction authors was correlated with social ability, which familiarity with non-fiction authors showed no correlation. “Thus, frequent readers of narrative fiction, individuals who could be considered ‘bookworms,’ may bolster or

maintain social-processing skills whilst reading stories, although they are removed

from actual social contact during this activity” (Mar et al, 2005). Unlike the usual stereotype, it turns out that book worms are not socially inept after all. However, what does this mean about the fictional stories found in books? Does this mean that experience with social situations found in fictional tales better prepare readers to deal with real-life social situations? In “Persuasion”, there are countless instances that could very well be considered support for this exact idea.

            First of all, several of the events from the first half of the book arguably deal with very stressful situations that many readers can surely relate to. The main character, Anne, faces oppression from both society based on her financial situation as well as family manipulation that ultimately leads her to breaking off engagement with her lover. These conflicts are easily to relate to, making “Persuasion” and extremely relatable book for readers. Mar and colleagues would surely argue that situations such as these are high stress, and by reading about the mistakes and accomplishments of characters in fictional tales, readers may very well be better prepared to face their own social dilemmas in the real world. Reading is an experience, and every experience is a chance to learn. Therefore, it is very possible that  by experiencing Anne’s hardships with her through reading, the audience learns more about different social situations, thus increasing their social ability.

            Furthermore, as the book proceeds, Anne’s situation becomes very real for readers. She experiences one of the most relatable social situations for readers: falling in love. Love is a natural and evolutionary human emotion. The fact that “Persuasion” introduces such a realistic social situation (especially for the social expectations of the time when Jane Austen wrote the book) makes it incredibly powerful in the eyes of the reader, and it seems to be a logical argument that this exposure to this type of situation would, in fact, influence the reader’s perception of social situations.