Gary L. Drescher is a scientist in the field of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...

(AI), and author of multiple books on AI, including ''Made-Up Minds: A Constructivist Approach to Artificial Intelligence''. His book describes a theory of how a computer program might be implemented to learn and use new concepts that have not been programmed into it. It introduces the

Schema Mechanism The word schema comes from the Greek word ('), which means ''shape'', or more generally, ''plan''. The plural is ('). In English, both ''schemas'' and ''schemata'' are used as plural forms. Schema may refer to: Science and technology * SCHEMA ...

, a general learning and concept-building mechanism inspired by

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, , ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemolo ...

's account of human cognitive development. The Schema Mechanism is intended to replicate key aspects of cognitive development during infancy. It takes Piaget's theory of human development as source of inspiration for an artificial learning mechanism; and it extends and tests Piaget's theory by seeing whether a specific mechanism that works according to Piagetian themes actually exhibits Piagetian abilities. In 2001 and 2002, Drescher was a visiting fellow at the Center for Cognitive Studies at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, which is directed by the American philosopher

Daniel Dennett Daniel Clement Dennett III (born March 28, 1942) is an American philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relat ...

. Following his work at Tufts, he wrote the 2006 book ''Good and Real: Demystifying Paradoxes from Physics to Ethics'', in which he defends a rigorously mechanistic materialism. In this book, he discusses

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

, defending the Everett or Multiple Worlds Interpretation, against the dominant

Copenhagen Interpretation The Copenhagen interpretation is a collection of views about the meaning of quantum mechanics, principally attributed to Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. It is one of the oldest of numerous proposed interpretations of quantum mechanics, as feat ...

. Among other things, he argues that the Everett Interpretation of quantum mechanics, allows for a completely

determinist Determinism is a philosophical view, where all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and cons ...

outlook, and it undermines the views of those (like

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus f ...

) who hold that quantum mechanics can give us some special insights into the nature of consciousness. In this book, Drescher also provides treatments of the

Prisoner's Dilemma The Prisoner's Dilemma is an example of a game analyzed in game theory. It is also a thought experiment that challenges two completely rational agents to a dilemma: cooperate with their partner for mutual reward, or betray their partner ("def ...

and Newcomb's Problem in order to build a defense of the golden rule and Kant's

categorical imperative The categorical imperative (german: kategorischer Imperativ) is the central philosophical concept in the deontological moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 '' Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals'', it is a way of eva ...

which does not require that we posit anything beyond the physical world as understood by the natural sciences.

References

External links

Made-up Minds: A Constructivist Approach to Artificial Intelligence at MIT PressGood and Real: Demystifying Paradoxes from Physics to Ethics at MIT PressTom Clark's Review of Gary Drescher's ''Good and Real: Demystifying Paradoxes from Physics to Ethics''

"Demystifying Quantum Mechanics: A Simple Universe with Quantum Uncertainty"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drescher, Gary Drescher, Gary Drescher, Gary Drescher, Gary Drescher, Gary Drescher, Gary Drescher, Gary