Category Archives: Philosophy of the actor

NARRATIVES RULE THE WORLD. Curse & blessing. Comments from @chatGPT4

Author: Gerd Doeben-Henisch

Time: Febr 3, 2024 – Febr 3, 2024, 10:08 a.m. CET

Email: gerd@doeben-henisch.de

TRANSLATION & COMMENTS: The following text is a translation from a German version into English. For the translation I am using the software deepL.com. For commenting on the whole text I am using @chatGPT4.

CONTEXT

This text belongs to the topic Philosophy (of Science).

If someone has already decided in their head that there are no problems, they won’t see a problem … and if you see a problem where there is none, you have little chance of being able to solve anything.
To put it simply: we can be the solution if we are not the problem ourselves

Written at the end of some letter…

PREFACE

The original – admittedly somewhat long – text entitled “MODERN PROPAGANDA – From a philosophical perspective. First reflections” started with the question of what actually constitutes the core of propaganda, and then ended up with the central insight that what is called ‘propaganda’ is only a special case of something much more general that dominates our thinking as humans: the world of narratives. This was followed by a relatively long philosophical analysis of the cognitive and emotional foundations of this phenomenon.

Since the central text on the role of narratives as part of the aforementioned larger text was a bit ‘invisible’ for many, here is a blog post that highlights this text again, and at the same time connects this text with an experiment in which the individual sections of the text are commented on by @chatGPT4.

Insights on @chatGPT4 as a commentator

Let’s start with the results of the accompanying experiment with the @chatGPT4 software. If you know how the @chatGPT4 program works, you would expect the program to more or less repeat the text entered by the user and then add a few associations relative to this text, the scope and originality of which depend on the internal knowledge that the system has. As you can see from reading @chatGPT4’s comments, @chatGPT4’s commenting capabilities are clearly limited. Nevertheless they underline the main ideas quite nicely. Of course, you could elicit even more information from the system by asking additional questions, but then you would have to invest human knowledge again to enable the machine to associate more and origin of all. Without additional help, the comments remain very manageable.

Central role of narratives

As the following text suggests, narratives are of central importance both for the individual and for the collectives in which an individual occurs: the narratives in people’s heads determine how people see, experience and interpret the world and also which actions they take spontaneously or deliberately. In the case of a machine, we would say that narratives are the program that controls us humans. In principle, people do have the ability to question or even partially change the narratives they have mastered, but only very few are able to do so, as this not only requires certain skills, but usually a great deal of training in dealing with their own knowledge. Intelligence is no special protection here; in fact, it seems that it is precisely so-called intelligent people who can become the worst victims of their own narratives. This phenomenon reveals a peculiar powerlessness of knowledge before itself.

This topic calls for further analysis and more public discussion.

HERE COMES THE MAIN TEXT ABOUT NARRATIVES

Worldwide today, in the age of mass media, especially in the age of the Internet, we can see that individuals, small groups, special organizations, political groups, entire religious communities, in fact all people and their social manifestations, follow a certain ‘narrative’ [1] when they act. A typical feature of acting according to a narrative is that those who do so individually believe that it is ‘their own decision’ and that the narrative is ‘true’, and that they are therefore ‘in the right’ when they act accordingly. This ‘feeling of being in the right’ can go as far as claiming the right to kill others because they are ‘acting wrongly’ according to the ‘narrative’. We should therefore speak here of a ‘narrative truth’: Within the framework of the narrative, a picture of the world is drawn that ‘as a whole’ enables a perspective that is ‘found to be good’ by the followers of the narrative ‘as such’, as ‘making sense’. Normally, the effect of a narrative, which is experienced as ‘meaningful’, is so great that the ‘truth content’ is no longer examined in detail.[2]

Popular narratives

In recent decades, we have experienced ‘modern forms’ of narratives that do not come across as religious narratives, but which nevertheless have a very similar effect: People perceive these narratives as ‘making sense’ in a world that is becoming increasingly confusing and therefore threatening for everyone today. Individual people, the citizens, also feel ‘politically helpless’, so that – even in a ‘democracy’ – they have the feeling that they cannot directly effect anything: the ‘people up there’ do what they want after all. In such a situation, ‘simplistic narratives’ are a blessing for the maltreated soul; you hear them and have the feeling: yes, that’s how it is; that’s exactly how I ‘feel’! Such ‘popular narratives’, which make ‘good feelings’ possible, are becoming increasingly powerful. What they have in common with religious narratives is that the ‘followers’ of popular narratives no longer ask the ‘question of truth’; most are also not sufficiently ‘trained’ to be able to clarify the truth content of a narrative at all. It is typical for followers of narratives that they are generally hardly able to explain their own narrative to others. They typically send each other links to texts/videos that they find ‘good’ because these texts/videos somehow seem to support the popular narrative, and tend not to check the authors and sources because they are such ‘decent people’, because they always say exactly the same thing as the ‘popular narrative’ dictates. [3]

For Power, narratives are sexy

If one now also takes into account that the ‘world of narratives’ is an extremely tempting offer for all those who have power over people or would like to gain power over people to ‘create’ precisely such narratives or to ‘instrumentalize’ existing narratives for themselves, then one should not be surprised that many governments in this world, many other power groups, are doing just that today: they do not try to coerce people ‘directly’, but they ‘produce’ popular narratives or ‘monitor’ already existing popular narratives’ in order to gain power over the hearts and minds of more and more people via the detour of these narratives. Some speak here of ‘hybrid warfare’, others of ‘modern propaganda’, but ultimately this misses the core of the problem. [4]

Bits of history

The core of the problem is the way in which human communities have always organized their collective action, namely through narratives; we humans have no other option. However, such narratives – as the considerations further down in the text show – are highly complex and extremely susceptible to ‘falsity’, to a ‘distortion of the picture of the world’. In the context of the development of legal systems, approaches have been developed to ‘improve’ the abuse of power in a society by supporting truth-preserving mechanisms. Gradually, this has certainly helped, with all the deficits that still exist today. In addition, a real revolution took place about 500 years ago: humanity succeeded in finding a format that optimized the ‘preservation of truth’ and minimized the slide into untruth with the concept of a ‘verifiable narrative (empirical theory)’. This new concept of ‘verifiable truth’ has since enabled great insights that were beyond imagination without this new concept. [5]

The ‘aura of the scientific’ has now permeated almost all of human culture, almost! We have to realize that although scientific thinking has comprehensively shaped the world of practicality through modern technologies, the way of scientific thinking has not overridden all other narratives. On the contrary, the ‘non-truth narratives’ have become so strong again that they are pushing back the ‘scientific’ in more and more areas of our world, patronizing it, forbidding it, eradicating it. The ‘irrationality’ of religious and popular narratives is stronger than ever before. ‘Irrational narratives’ are so attractive because they spare the individual from having to ‘think for himself’. Real thinking is exhausting, unpopular, annoying and hinders the dream of a simple solution.[6]

The central problem of humanity

Against this backdrop, the widespread inability of people to recognize and overcome ‘irrational narratives’ appears to be the central problem for humanity in mastering the current global challenges. Before we need more technology (we certainly do), we need more people who are able and willing to think more and better, and who are also able to solve ‘real problems’ together with others. Real problems can be recognized by the fact that they are largely ‘new’, that there exist no ‘simple off-the-shelf’ solutions for them, that we really have to ‘wrestle’ together for possible insights; the ‘old’ is not ‘enough’ in principle to recognize and implement the ‘true new’! [7]

COMMENTS

[1] The term ‘narrative’ is increasingly used today to describe the fact that a group of people use a certain ‘image’, a certain ‘narrative’ in their thinking for their perception of the world in order to be able to coordinate their joint actions. Ultimately, this applies to all collective action, even for engineers who want to develop a technical solution. In this respect, the description in the German Wikipedia is a bit ‘narrow’: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrativ_(Sozialwissenschaften)

Comments from @chatGPT4

[2] @chatGPT4 : The text delves into the profound impact of narratives in the context of mass media and the Internet, highlighting how individuals and groups often align their actions and beliefs with specific narratives. It points out the subjective nature of these narratives, where followers perceive them as absolute truths, driving their decisions and actions. This belief in the “narrative truth” can foster a strong sense of justification, even to the extent of committing violence against those deemed to be in opposition to this truth. The text emphasizes the power of narratives to shape perceptions of the world, often bypassing critical scrutiny of their factual accuracy. This phenomenon underscores the psychological and social mechanisms through which narratives influence human behavior, suggesting a collective suspension of disbelief that can have significant real-world implications.

The assertion that individuals often do not question the “truth content” of a narrative they find meaningful speaks to the cognitive biases and shortcuts humans use in processing information. Narratives simplify complex realities into coherent stories, making them more digestible and emotionally resonant. This process can lead to echo chambers and polarization, as groups coalesce around shared narratives, reinforcing their beliefs and dismissing opposing viewpoints without thorough examination.

The concept of “narrative truth” also reflects the construction of social realities, where shared beliefs and stories shape collective experiences and norms. This can have both positive and negative outcomes, facilitating social cohesion and identity within groups but also fostering division and conflict between them.

Critically, the text suggests a need for awareness and reflection on the narratives we adopt and their implications for our perceptions and actions. It hints at the ethical responsibility of individuals and media creators to critically evaluate and challenge the narratives they encounter and propagate. In an era of information overload and sophisticated digital communication, the ability to discern the nuanced difference between narrative-driven beliefs and objective truths is more crucial than ever for fostering informed, compassionate, and inclusive societies.

[3] @chatGPT4 : The text provides a critical examination of the role and influence of modern narratives in contemporary society, juxtaposing them with traditional religious narratives while highlighting their similar effects on individuals’ perceptions and emotions. It touches on a growing sense of political helplessness among citizens, even within democratic societies, where there’s a prevailing sentiment that individual actions have little to no impact on the decisions made by those in power. This perceived powerlessness, combined with the complexity and threats perceived in today’s world, creates a fertile ground for simplistic narratives to thrive. These narratives, by virtue of offering clarity and emotional comfort, gain traction and become increasingly influential.

The comparison to religious narratives is particularly insightful. It suggests that just as religious stories provide a sense of meaning, belonging, and understanding without necessitating a rigorous examination of their factual accuracy, modern narratives fulfill a similar psychological need. They offer an immediate, albeit superficial, sense of understanding and control in a seemingly chaotic world. This bypass of critical evaluation—the reluctance or inability to question the ‘truth’ behind these narratives—points to a significant challenge in contemporary discourse: the erosion of critical thinking and analytical skills in evaluating information.

Furthermore, the text highlights a concerning trend in how people consume and share information. The reliance on ‘echo chambers’ where one’s beliefs are constantly reaffirmed by similar opinions, often without scrutiny of the source’s credibility, perpetuates a cycle of misinformation and intellectual complacency. This behavior is facilitated by digital platforms, where sharing links to supportive texts or videos substitutes for genuine understanding and critical discussion.

The underlying issue, as the text implies, is not just about the narratives themselves but about the broader societal and educational failings that leave individuals unequipped to critically assess information. This deficiency not only makes people susceptible to manipulation but also undermines the foundational principles of informed citizenship in a democracy.

In conclusion, the text calls for a renewed emphasis on critical thinking and media literacy as essential skills in navigating the modern information landscape. By fostering these skills, individuals can become more discerning consumers of information, better able to understand the complexities of the world around them, and more effectively engage in the democratic process. This approach not only challenges the dominance of simplistic narratives but also supports a healthier, more informed public discourse.

[4] @chatGPT4 : This passage delves into the strategic utilization of narratives by those in power or seeking power as a means to influence and control populations. It presents a critical view of how governments and various power groups craft or harness existing popular narratives to shape public opinion and behavior indirectly. This approach, as opposed to direct coercion, operates through the subtler channels of storytelling and narrative dissemination, aiming to capture the “hearts and minds” of people. The text suggests that this method is widespread and increasingly recognized under terms like ‘hybrid warfare’ and ‘modern propaganda,’ though it argues these terms fail to fully capture the essence of the issue.

The key insight here revolves around the power of narratives to mold societal perceptions and values. By creating or modifying narratives, those in power can guide public sentiment and opinion in ways that serve their interests, often without the overt appearance of manipulation. This strategy can be particularly effective in the digital age, where information spreads rapidly and often without critical scrutiny, allowing for narratives to be amplified and tailored to target audiences with unprecedented precision.

The critique of labeling these tactics as merely ‘hybrid warfare’ or ‘modern propaganda’ highlights a deeper concern: that the focus on the mechanics of these strategies may overlook the fundamental challenge they pose to democratic processes and individual autonomy. Narratives, in this context, become tools for shaping reality, not just reflecting it, with profound implications for how people understand their world and their place within it.

Furthermore, the text implicitly raises questions about the ethical implications of such narrative control. It challenges the reader to consider the boundaries between legitimate persuasion and manipulative interference in the democratic discourse. This distinction is crucial in evaluating the health of public dialogue and the integrity of decision-making processes in a society.

In summary, the passage underscores the sophisticated ways in which narratives are employed by those in power to influence public opinion and behavior indirectly. It calls attention to the importance of recognizing and critically evaluating these narratives to preserve the principles of democracy and individual agency. The ability to discern the motivations behind and the content of these narratives is essential for a healthy, informed, and resilient public sphere.

[5] @chatGPT4 : This passage addresses a fundamental aspect of human social organization: the reliance on narratives to coordinate collective action. It posits that narratives are an intrinsic part of human nature, offering the only viable means through which communities can organize and mobilize collective action. However, it also acknowledges a critical vulnerability of narratives—their propensity for falsity and distortion of reality. This inherent flaw raises concerns about the accuracy and integrity of the stories that guide collective human behavior and decision-making.

The text suggests that the development of legal systems represents a historical attempt to mitigate the misuse of narrative power, aiming to safeguard society against the dangers of misinformation and manipulation. Legal frameworks, with their emphasis on evidence and accountability, can be seen as societal mechanisms designed to preserve truth and curb the abuse of narratives. Despite the ongoing challenges and imperfections in these systems, they have contributed to a gradual improvement in societal governance.

Moreover, the passage highlights a transformative moment in human history approximately 500 years ago with the emergence of the scientific method, described here as the concept of a “verifiable narrative (empirical theory).” This revolution in thought introduced a new paradigm for establishing truth, one based on empirical evidence and verifiability rather than mere assertion or belief. The scientific method, by demanding that claims about the world be tested and confirmed through observation and experiment, has dramatically enhanced our capacity to discern truth from falsehood. This approach has unlocked unprecedented insights and advancements, fundamentally altering humanity’s understanding of the universe and our place within it.

The core issue identified in the text is not merely the existence of narratives but the challenge of ensuring they reflect a truthful and accurate understanding of the world. The scientific method represents a pivotal development in this quest, providing a robust framework for distinguishing between verifiable truths and unfounded narratives. However, the text implies that the struggle to maintain the integrity of our collective narratives is ongoing and requires constant vigilance. As we navigate an ever-more complex information landscape, the principles of verifiability and empirical evidence remain essential guides in our pursuit of knowledge and in the organization of our societies.

[6] @chatGPT4 : This passage critically examines the influence and reach of scientific thinking in contemporary culture, juxtaposing it with the resilience and resurgence of non-scientific narratives. Despite the profound impact of scientific discoveries and technologies on practical aspects of life, the passage suggests that the mode of thinking promoted by science—characterized by critical inquiry, empirical evidence, and skepticism—has not fully supplanted other forms of narrative understanding. Instead, there is a noted resurgence of “non-truth narratives” that challenge, marginalize, or even seek to suppress scientific perspectives in various domains.

The text highlights a concerning trend: the growing appeal of irrational narratives derived from religious beliefs or popular culture, which are gaining ground against scientific rationality. This preference for irrational narratives is attributed to their simplicity and the comfort they offer individuals by absolving them of the need for critical thinking. The passage argues that real thinking—analytical, reflective, and independent—is perceived as burdensome, unpopular, and inconvenient by many, as it complicates the desire for simple answers to complex problems.

The allure of irrational narratives, according to the passage, lies in their ability to provide straightforward solutions and a sense of certainty in an increasingly complex world. These narratives offer emotional satisfaction and a framework for understanding the world that bypasses the rigorous demands of scientific scrutiny. This dynamic illustrates a broader cultural conflict between the values of rationality and the comfort of simplicity and certainty offered by alternative narratives.

This critique underscores a critical challenge facing society: the need to balance the benefits of scientific thinking with the human desire for narratives that provide meaning and emotional comfort. While scientific thinking has undeniably transformed the world, its principles of skepticism and demand for evidence can be at odds with the human inclination towards narratives that offer immediate clarity and solace. The passage calls for a reflection on the importance of fostering a culture that values critical thinking and scientific literacy while acknowledging and addressing the psychological and emotional needs that drive people towards irrational narratives. This balance is crucial for navigating the complexities of the modern world and ensuring that decisions are informed by both empirical evidence and a compassionate understanding of human nature.

[7] @chatGPT4 : This passage articulates a critical observation about contemporary society’s struggle with global challenges: the difficulty lies not just in the need for technological advancements but fundamentally in the widespread inability of individuals to engage critically with information and narratives. It underscores the necessity of fostering a culture where people are encouraged and equipped to think deeply, critically, and collaboratively to address complex issues. The emphasis is on the collective intellectual effort required to navigate and solve “real problems,” which are characterized as novel, lacking straightforward solutions, and demanding innovative approaches beyond the application of existing knowledge or methods.

The text suggests that the crux of addressing global challenges effectively is not merely technological innovation but, more importantly, enhancing collective cognitive capabilities. It highlights an urgent need for individuals who can think “more and better” and who are prepared to engage in the collaborative problem-solving processes essential for addressing the unique and multifaceted problems facing the world today. These problems are not amenable to simple, pre-packaged solutions; they require a willingness to engage in sustained intellectual effort, open-minded exploration, and creative thinking.

This perspective challenges the prevailing emphasis on technological solutions as the primary means to overcome global challenges. Instead, it argues for a paradigm shift towards valuing and developing human intellectual and collaborative capacities as the foundational step towards sustainable progress. The passage points out that the real bottleneck in addressing contemporary issues is not the lack of technological resources but the shortage of people capable of employing critical thinking to innovate and implement effective solutions.

In essence, the passage calls for a renewed focus on education and cultural values that promote critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and collaborative problem-solving. By cultivating these capabilities, society can better equip itself to recognize, understand, and address the novel and complex challenges that define our times. This approach not only recognizes the limitations of relying solely on technological advancements but also highlights the transformative potential of human intellect and cooperation in forging pathways to a better future.

THE BIG PICTURE: HCI – HMI – AAI in History – Engineering – Society – Philosophy

eJournal: uffmm.org,
ISSN 2567-6458, 20.April 2019
Email: info@uffmm.org
Author: Gerd Doeben-Henisch
Email: gerd@doeben-henisch.de

A first draft version …

CONTEXT

The context for this text is the whole block dedicated to the AAI (Actor-Actor Interaction)  paradigm. The aim of this text is to give the big picture of all dimensions and components of this subject as it shows up during April 2019.

The first dimension introduced is the historical dimension, because this allows a first orientation in the course of events which lead  to the actual situation. It starts with the early days of real computers in the thirties and forties of the 20 century.

The second dimension is the engineering dimension which describes the special view within which we are looking onto the overall topic of interactions between human persons and computers (or machines or technology or society). We are interested how to transform a given problem into a valuable solution in a methodological sound way called engineering.

The third dimension is the whole of society because engineering happens always as some process within a society.  Society provides the resources which can be used and spends the preferences (values) what is understood as ‘valuable’, as ‘good’.

The fourth dimension is Philosophy as that kind of thinking which takes everything into account which can be thought and within thinking Philosophy clarifies conditions of thinking, possible tools of thinking and has to clarify when some symbolic expression becomes true.

HISTORY

In history we are looking back in the course of events. And this looking back is in a first step guided by the  concepts of HCI (Human-Computer Interface) and  HMI (Human-Machine Interaction).

It is an interesting phenomenon how the original focus of the interface between human persons and the early computers shifted to  the more general picture of interaction because the computer as machine developed rapidly on account of the rapid development of the enabling hardware (HW)  the enabling software (SW).

Within the general framework of hardware and software the so-called artificial intelligence (AI) developed first as a sub-topic on its own. Since the last 10 – 20 years it became in a way productive that it now  seems to become a normal part of every kind of software. Software and smart software seem to be   interchangeable. Thus the  new wording of augmented or collective intelligence is emerging intending to bridge the possible gap between humans with their human intelligence and machine intelligence. There is some motivation from the side of society not to allow the impression that the smart (intelligent) machines will replace some day the humans. Instead one is propagating the vision of a new collective shape of intelligence where human and machine intelligence allows a symbiosis where each side gives hist best and receives a maximum in a win-win situation.

What is revealing about the actual situation is the fact that the mainstream is always talking about intelligence but not seriously about learning! Intelligence is by its roots a static concept representing some capabilities at a certain point of time, while learning is the more general dynamic concept that a system can change its behavior depending from actual external stimuli as well as internal states. And such a change includes real changes of some of its internal states. Intelligence does not communicate this dynamics! The most demanding aspect of learning is the need for preferences. Without preferences learning is impossible. Today machine learning is a very weak example of learning because the question of preferences is not a real topic there. One assumes that some reward is available, but one does not really investigate this topic. The rare research trying to do this job is stating that there is not the faintest idea around how a general continuous learning could happen. Human society is of no help for this problem while human societies have a clash of many, often opposite, values, and they have no commonly accepted view how to improve this situation.

ENGINEERING

Engineering is the art and the science to transform a given problem into a valuable and working solution. What is valuable decides the surrounding enabling society and this judgment can change during the course of time.  Whether some solution is judged to be working can change during the course of time too but the criteria used for this judgment are more stable because of their adherence to concrete capabilities of technical solutions.

While engineering was and is  always  a kind of an art and needs such aspects like creativity, innovation, intuition etc. it is also and as far as possible a procedure driven by defined methods how to do things, and these methods are as far as possible backed up by scientific theories. The real engineer therefore synthesizes art, technology and science in a unique way which can not completely be learned in the schools.

In the past as well as in the present engineering has to happen in teams of many, often many thousands or even more, people which coordinate their brains by communication which enables in the individual brains some kind of understanding, of emerging world pictures,  which in turn guide the perception, the decisions, and the concrete behavior of everybody. And these cognitive processes are embedded — in every individual team member — in mixtures of desires, emotions, as well as motivations, which can support the cognitive processes or obstruct them. Therefore an optimal result can only be reached if the communication serves all necessary cognitive processes and the interactions between the team members enable the necessary constructive desires, emotions, and motivations.

If an engineering process is done by a small group of dedicated experts  — usually triggered by the given problem of an individual stakeholder — this can work well for many situations. It has the flavor of a so-called top-down approach. If the engineering deals with states of affairs where different kinds of people, citizens of some town etc. are affected by the results of such a process, the restriction to  a small group of experts  can become highly counterproductive. In those cases of a widespread interest it seems promising to include representatives of all the involved persons into the executing team to recognize their experiences and their kinds of preferences. This has to be done in a way which is understandable and appreciative, showing esteem for the others. This manner of extending the team of usual experts by situative experts can be termed bottom-up approach. In this usage of the term bottom-up this is not the opposite to top-down but  is reflecting the extend in which members of a society are included insofar they are affected by the results of a process.

SOCIETY

Societies in the past and the present occur in a great variety of value systems, organizational structures, systems of power etc.  Engineering processes within a society  are depending completely on the available resources of a society and of its value systems.

The population dynamics, the needs and wishes of the people, the real territories, the climate, housing, traffic, and many different things are constantly producing demands to be solved if life shall be able and continue during the course of time.

The self-understanding and the self-management of societies is crucial for their ability to used engineering to improve life. This deserves communication and education to a sufficient extend, appropriate public rules of management, otherwise the necessary understanding and the freedom to act is lacking to use engineering  in the right way.

PHILOSOPHY

Without communication no common constructive process can happen. Communication happens according to many  implicit rules compressed in the formula who when can speak how about what with whom etc. Communication enables cognitive processes of for instance  understanding, explanations, lines of arguments.  Especially important for survival is the ability to make true descriptions and the ability to decide whether a statement is true or not. Without this basic ability communication will break down, coordination will break down, life will break down.

The basic discipline to clarify the rules and conditions of true communication, of cognition in general, is called Philosophy. All the more modern empirical disciplines are specializations of the general scope of Philosophy and it is Philosophy which integrates all the special disciplines in one, coherent framework (this is the ideal; actually we are far from this ideal).

Thus to describe the process of engineering driven by different kinds of actors which are coordinating themselves by communication is primarily the task of philosophy with all their sub-disciplines.

Thus some of the topics of Philosophy are language, text, theory, verification of a  theory, functions within theories as algorithms, computation in general, inferences of true statements from given theories, and the like.

In this text I apply Philosophy as far as necessary. Especially I am introducing a new process model extending the classical systems engineering approach by including the driving actors explicitly in the formal representation of the process. Learning machines are included as standard tools to improve human thinking and communication. You can name this Augmented Social Learning Systems (ASLS). Compared to the wording Augmented Intelligence (AI) (as used for instance by the IBM marketing) the ASLS concept stresses that the primary point of reference are the biological systems which created and create machine intelligence as a new tool to enhance biological intelligence as part of biological learning systems. Compared to the wording Collective Intelligence (CI) (as propagated by the MIT, especially by Thomas W.Malone and colleagues) the spirit of the CI concept seems to be   similar, but perhaps only a weak similarity.

THE BETTER WORLD PROJECT IDEA

eJournal: uffmm.org, ISSN 2567-6458
Email: info@uffmm.org

Last changes: 9.Oct.2018 (Engineering part)

Author: Gerd Doeben-Henisch

Enhanced version of the 'Better World Project' Idea by making explicit the engineering part touching all other aspects
Enhanced version of the ‘Better World Project’ Idea by making explicit the engineering part touching all other aspects

 

The online-book project published on the uffmm.org website has to be seen within a bigger idea which can be named ‘The better world project’.

As outlined in the figure above you can see that the AAIwSE theory is the nucleus of a project which intends to enable a global learning space which connects individual persons as well as schools, universities, cities as well as companies, and even more if wanted.

There are other ideas around using the concept ‘better world’, butt these other concepts are targeting other subjects. In this view here the engineering perspective is laying the ground to build new more effective systems to enhance all aspects of life.

As you already can detect in the AAAIwSE theory published so far there exists a new and enlarged vision of the acting persons, the engineers as the great artists of the real world. Taking this view seriously there will be a need for a new kind of spirituality too which is enabling the acting persons to do all this with a vital interest in the future of life in the universe.

Actually the following websites are directly involved in the ‘Better World Project Idea’: this site ‘uffmm.org’ (in English)  and (in German)  ‘cognitiveagent.org‘ and ‘Kommunalpolitik & eGaming‘. The last link points to an official project of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (FRA-UAS) which will apply the AAI-Methods to all communities in Germany (about 11.000).

ACTOR-ACTOR INTERACTION [AAI] WITHIN A SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROCESS (SEP). An Actor Centered Approach to Problem Solving

eJournal: uffmm.org, ISSN 2567-6458
Email: info@uffmm.org
Author: Gerd Doeben-Henisch
Email: gerd@doeben-henisch.de

ATTENTION: The actual Version  you will find HERE.

Draft version 22.June 2018

Update 26.June 2018 (Chapter AS-AM Summary)

Update 4.July 2018 (Chapter 4 Actor Model; improving the terminology of environments with actors, actors as input-output systems, basic and real interface, a first typology of input-output systems…)

Update 17.July 2018 (Preface, Introduction new)

Update 19.July 2018 (Introduction final paragraph!, new chapters!)

Update 20.July 2018 (Disentanglement of chapter ‘Simulation & Verification’ into two independent chapters; corrections in the chapter ‘Introduction’; corrections in chapter ‘AAI Analysis’; extracting ‘Simulation’ from chapter ‘Actor Story’ to new chapter ‘Simulation’; New chapter ‘Simulation’; Rewriting of chapter ‘Looking Forward’)

Update 22.July 2018 (Rewriting the beginning of the chapter ‘Actor Story (AS)’, not completed; converting chapter ‘AS+AM Summary’ to ‘AS and AM Philosophy’, not completed)

Update 23.July 2018 (Attaching a new chapter with a Case Study illustrating an actor story (AS). This case study is still unfinished. It is a case study of  a real project!)

Update 7.August 2018 (Modifying chapter Actor Story, the introduction)

Update 8.August 2018 (Modifying chapter  AS as Text, Comic, Graph; especially section about the textual mode and the pictorial mode; first sketch for a mapping from the textual mode into the pictorial mode)

Update 9.August 2018 (Modification of the section ‘Mathematical Actor Story (MAS) in chapter 4).

Update 11.August 2018 (Improving chapter 3 ‘Actor Story; nearly complete rewriting of chapter 4 ‘AS as text, comic, graph’.)

Update 12.August 2018 (Minor corrections in the chapters 3+4)

Update 13.August 2018 (I am still catched by the chapters 3+4. In chapter  the cognitive structure of the actors has been further enhanced; in chapter 4 a complete example of a mathematical actor story could now been attached.)

Update 14.August 2018 (minor corrections to chapter 4 + 5; change-statements define for each state individual combinatorial spaces (a little bit like a quantum state); whether and how these spaces will be concretized/ realized depends completely from the participating actors)

Update 15.August 2018 (Canceled the appendix with the case study stub and replaced it with an overview for  a supporting software tool which is needed for the real usage of this theory. At the moment it is open who will write the software.)

Update 2.October 2018 (Configuring the whole book now with 3 parts: I. Theory, II. Application, III. Software. Gerd has his focus on part I, Zeynep will focus on part II and ‘somebody’ will focus on part III (in the worst case we will — nevertheless — have a minimal version :-)). For a first quick overview about everything read the ‘Preface’ and the ‘Introduction’.

Update 4.November 2018 (Rewriting the Introduction (and some minor corrections in the Preface). The idea of the rewriting was to address all the topics which will be discussed in the book and pointing out to the logical connections between them. This induces some wrong links in the following chapters, which are not yet updated. Some chapters are yet completely missing. But to improve the clearness of the focus and the logical inter-dependencies helps to elaborate the missing texts a lot. Another change is the wording of the title. Until now it is difficult to find a title which is exactly matching the content. The new proposal shows the focus ‘AAI’ but lists the keywords of the main topics within AAA analysis because these topics are usually not necessarily associated with AAI.)

ACTOR-ACTOR INTERACTION [AAI]. An Actor Centered Approach to Problem Solving. Combining Engineering and Philosophy

by

GERD DOEBEN-HENISCH in cooperation with  LOUWRENCE ERASMUS, ZEYNEP TUNCER

LATEST  VERSION AS PDF

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 19.Dec.2018: Application domain ‘Communal Planning and e-Gaming’

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 24.Dec.2018: The AAI-paradigm and Quantum Logic

PRE-VIEW: NEW EXPANDED AAI THEORY 23.January 2019: Outline of the new expanded  AAI Paradigm. Before re-writing the main text with these ideas the new advanced AAI theory will first be tested during the summer 2019 within a lecture with student teams as well as in  several workshops outside the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences with members of different institutions.

AASE – Actor-Actor Systems Engineering. Theory & Applications. Micro-Edition (Vers.9)

eJournal: uffmm.org, ISSN 2567-6458
13.June  2018
Email: info@uffmm.org
Authors: Gerd Doeben-Henisch, Zeynep Tuncer,  Louwrence Erasmus
Email: doeben@fb2.fra-uas.de
Email: gerd@doeben-henisch.de

PDF

CONTENTS

1 History: From HCI to AAI …
2 Different Views …
3 Philosophy of the AAI-Expert …
4 Problem (Document) …
5 Check for Analysis …
6 AAI-Analysis …
6.1 Actor Story (AS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.1 Textual Actor Story (TAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.2 Pictorial Actor Story (PAT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.3 Mathematical Actor Story (MAS) . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.4 Simulated Actor Story (SAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.5 Task Induced Actor Requirements (TAR) . . . . . . .
6.1.6 Actor Induced Actor Requirements (UAR) . . . . . .
6.1.7 Interface-Requirements and Interface-Design . . . .
6.2 Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.1 Actor and Actor Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.2 Actor Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.3 Actor as Input-Output System . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.4 Learning Input-Output Systems . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.5 General AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.6 Sound Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.7 Special AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.8 Hypothetical Model of a User – The GOMS Paradigm
6.2.9 Example: An Electronically Locked Door . . . . . . .
6.2.10 A GOMS Model Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.11 Further Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.12 Design Principles; Interface Design . . . . . . . . .
6.3 Simulation of Actor Models (AMs) within an Actor Story (AS) .
6.4 Assistive Actor-Demonstrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.5 Approaching an Optimum Result . . . . .
7 What Comes Next: The Real System
7.1 Logical Design, Implementation, Validation . . . .
7.2 Conceptual Gap In Systems Engineering? . . .
8 The AASE-Paradigm …
References

Abstract

This text is based on the the paper “AAI – Actor-Actor Interaction. A Philosophy of Science View” from 3.Oct.2017 and version 11 of the paper “AAI – Actor-Actor Interaction. An Example Template” and it   transforms these views in the new paradigm ‘Actor- Actor Systems Engineering’ understood as a theory as well as a paradigm for and infinite set of applications. In analogy to the slogan ’Object-Oriented Software Engineering (OO SWE)’ one can understand the new acronym AASE as a systems engineering approach where the actor-actor interactions are the base concepts for the whole engineering process. Furthermore it is a clear intention to view the topic AASE explicitly from the point of view of a theory (as understood in Philosophy of Science) as well as from the point of view of possible applications (as understood in systems engineering). Thus the classical term of Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) or even the older Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is now embedded within the new AASE approach. The same holds for the fuzzy discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or the subset of AI called Machine Learning (ML). Although the AASE-approach is completely in its beginning one can already see how powerful this new conceptual framework  is.

 

 

uffmm – RESTART AS SCIENTIFIC WORKPLACE

RESTART OF UFFMM AS SCIENTIFIC WORKPLACE.
For the Integrated Engineering of the Future (SW4IEF)
Campaining the Actor-Actor Systems Engineering (AASE) paradigm

eJournal: uffmm.org, ISSN 2567-6458
Email: info@uffmm.org

Last Update June-22, 2018, 15:32 CET.  See below: Case Studies —  Templates – AASE Micro Edition – and Scheduling 2018 —

RESTART

This is a complete new restart of the old uffmm-site. It is intended as a working place for those people who are interested in an integrated engineering of the future.

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

A widely known and useful concept for a general approach to the engineering of problems is systems engineering (SE).

Open for nearly every kind of a possible problem does a systems engineering process (SEP) organize the process how to analyze the problem, and turn this analysis into a possible design for a solution. This proposed solution will be examined by important criteria and, if it reaches an optimal version, it will be implemented as a real working system. After final evaluations this solution will start its carrier in the real world.

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

In a meta-scientific point of view the systems engineering process can become itself the object of an analysis. This is usually done by a discipline called philosophy of science (PoS). Philosophy of science is asking, e.g., what the ‘ingredients’ of an systems-engineering process are, or how these ingredients do interact? How can such a process ‘fail’? ‘How can such a process be optimized’? Therefore a philosophy of science perspective can help to make a systems engineering process more transparent and thereby supports an optimization of these processes.

AAI (KNOWN AS HMI, HCI …)

A core idea of the philosophy of science perspective followed in this text is the assumption, that a systems engineering process is primarily based on different kinds of actors (AC) whose interactions enable and direct the whole process. These assumptions are also valid in that case, where the actors are not any more only biological systems like human persons and non-biological systems called machines, but also in that case where the traditional machines (M) are increasingly replaced by ‘intelligent machines (IM)‘. Therefore the well know paradigm of human-machine interaction (HMI) — or earlier ‘human-computer interaction (HCI)’  will be replaced in this text by the new paradigm of Actor-Actor Interaction (AAI). In this new version the main perspective is not the difference of man on one side and machines on the other but the kind of interactions between actors of all kind which are necessary and possible.

INTELLIGENT MACHINES

The  concept of intelligent machines (IM) is understood here as a special case of the general Actor (A) concept which includes as other sub-cases biological systems, predominantly humans as instantiations of the species Homo Sapiens. While until today the question of biological intelligence and machine intelligence is usually treated separately and differently it is intended in this text to use one general concept of intelligence for all actors. This allows then more direct comparisons and evaluations. Whether biological actors are in some sense better than the non-biological actors or vice versa can seriously only be discussed when the used concept of intelligence is the same.

ACTOR STORY AND ACTOR MODELS

And, as it will be explained in the following sections, the used paradigm of actor-actor interactions uses the two main concepts of actor story (AS) as well as actor model (AM). Actor models are embedded in the actor stories. Whether an actor model describes biological or non-biological actors does not matter. Independent of the inner structures of an actor model (which can be completely different) the actor story is always  completely described in terms of observable behavior which are the same for all kinds of actors (Comment: The major scientific disciplines for the analysis of behavior are biology, psychology, and sociology).

AASE PARADIGM

In analogy to the so-called ‘Object-Oriented (OO) approach in Software-Engineering (SWE)’ we campaign here the ‘Actor-Actor (AA) Systems Engineering (SE)’ approach. This takes the systems Engineering approach as a base concepts and re-works the whole framework from the point of view of the actor-actor paradigm.  AASE is seen here as a theory as well as an   domain of applications.

Ontologies of the AASE paradigm
Figure: Ontologies of the AASE paradigm

To understand the different perspectives of the used theory it can help to the figure ‘AASE-Paradigm Ontologies’. Within the systems engineering process (SEP) we have AAI-experts as acting actors. To describe these we need a ‘meta-level’ realized by a ‘philosophy of the actor’. The AAI-experts themselves are elaborating within an AAI-analysis an actor story (AS) as framework for different kinds of intended actors. To describe the inner structures of these intended actors one needs different kinds of ‘actor models’. The domain of actor-model structures overlaps with the domain of ‘machine learning (ML)’ and with ‘artificial intelligence (AI)’.

SOFTWARE

What will be described and developed separated from these theoretical considerations is an appropriate software environment which allows the construction of solutions within the AASE approach including e.g. the construction of intelligent machines too. This software environment is called in this text emerging-mind lab (EML) and it will be another public blog as well.

 

THEORY MICRO EDITION & CASE STUDIES

How we proceed

Because the overall framework of the intended integrated theory is too large to write it down in one condensed text with  all the necessary illustrating examples we decided in Dec 2017 to follow a bottom-up approach by writing primarily case studies from different fields. While doing this we can introduce stepwise the general theory by developing a Micro Edition of the Theory in parallel to the case studies. Because the Theory Micro Edition has gained a sufficient minimal completeness already in April 2018 we do not need anymore a separate   template for case studies. We will use the Theory Micro Edition  as  ‘template’ instead.

To keep the case studies readable as far as possible all needed mathematical concepts and formulas will be explained in a separate appendix section which is central for all case studies. This allows an evolutionary increase in the formal apparatus used for the integrated theory.

THEORY IN A BOOK FORMAT

(Still not final)

Here you can find the actual version of the   theory which will continuously be updated and extended by related topics.

At the end of the text you find a list of ToDos where everybody is invited to collaborate. The main editor is Gerd Doeben-Henisch deciding whether the proposal fits into the final text or not.

Last Update 22.June 2018

Philosophy of the Actor

This sections describes basic assumptions about the cognitive structure of the human AAI expert.

From HCI to AAI. Some Bits of History

This sections describes main developments in the history from HCI to AAI.

SCHEDULE 2018

The Milestone for a first outline in a book format has been reached June-22, 2018. The   milestone for a first final version   is  scheduled   for October-4, 2018.