Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology Psychonomics: The ontology of psychology

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology Overview What is information? Where does it come from? How do we recognize and measure it? What is information processing? –What is a rule?

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology What really exists? What does it mean to ‘really’exist” Consider the binary digit: What is it? –An integer –A real number –A color –A Japanese character –A date –A memory location How can we tell the difference between a new notation or representation and a new fact or object?

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology What is information? Three related definitions: i.) Claude Shannon / Norbert Wiener: Reduction in uncertainty ii.) Greg Chaitlin: The shortest representation (= elimination of redundancy) iii.) Gregory Bateson: Differences that make a difference

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology i.) Claude Shannon / Norbert Wiener: Information as reduction in uncertainty defined information as the negative condition (opposite) of the statistical properties of uncertainty in thermodynamic gases their equation defines information in terms of the number of decisions that must be made in order to change uncertainty to certainty

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology i.) Claude Shannon / Norbert Wiener: Information as reduction in uncertainty information = the number of decisions that must be made in order to change uncertainty into certainty –In general, this is a log function of the number of items: that is, each reduction takes away the same proportion of remaining uncertainty (usually half) –Example: How much information is in the alphabet? Hint: Ask someone to think of a letter and play 20 questions You need at most 5 questions, so the answer is about 5 bits of information (log2(26) = 4.7)

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology ii.) Greg Chaitin: Information = the shortest representation Clever people can, in some situations, ask better questions –an entity is said to contain as much information as can be contained in the shortest computer program (in a well- defined way) that can produce that entity –that program is essentially equivalent to a description of that information –Note the notion of elimination of redundancy = an emphasis on the BEST representation as a measure of information content. Q: What does this say about random data sets?

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology iii.) Gregory Bateson: Information = Differences that make a difference One person’s information is another person’s irrelevancy –For example, you will ignore the top bits of a byte if you don’t need them: so you compress any number of irrelevant bits (including random bits) down to 0 - In biological systems- in human psychology- we have to ask: What does these bits mean? information is a difference that makes a difference What makes a difference to an individual depends on what that individual wants to do; his/her motivation and/or interests

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology Information and meaning are aligned, but in different worlds. –Information allows meaning, but it does not specify meaning. –Information:meaning :: soil:plants - they allow growth, but don’t have anything to say about what will grow... What humans crave is meaning. What the world offers us is information.

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology Where does information come from? Along with observation, we have three ways to get information: 1.) By deduction: Drawing a conclusion from a principle already known or assumed; reasoning from generals to particulars 2.) By induction : Deriving a general principle from the observation of particular instances 3.) By abduction : Deriving a general principle when the major premiss is certain, and the minor only probable

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology What is information processing? Note that all three techniques take as input: information –Information comes from manipulating information –We manipulate information by applying transformation rules to it

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology What is a rule? We manipulate information by applying transformation rules There are two kinds of rules: i.) Rules for determining type: What is this X? ii.) Rules for transforming (= computing across) specified types (known as ‘methods’): What I can I do with X? What can X do for me? Why does X make a difference?

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology What is a formal system? i.) Assumptions: An explicit and finite list of axioms- without which, nothing. ii.) Symbols: An explicit and finite list of symbols- without which, nothing to systematize iii.) Rules: An explicit and finite list of rules for determining grammaticality- without which, gibberish iv.) Methods: An explicit and finite list of steps of transformation- without which, chaos.

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology What is a formal system? Logic, geometry, computer languages, statistical methods ARE formal systems Thermostats, electrical devices, & other deterministic machines can be described by formal systems because they have a strong mapping with formal systems. Our 431 questions are: What else can be described in formal terms? How much of the observable variability in humans can be captured in terms of the four components of a formal system? Of what can human psychology speak? Of what must it remain silent?

Psychonomics: the ontology of psychology Questions Why do we only want to speak of entities that fall under formal systems? What is gain/lost by this? How is ‘kindness’ different from ‘wood’? –Is ‘kindness’ more or less ‘real’ than ‘wood’? Why? –Is ‘kindness’ more or less real than ‘intelligence’? Why? Should we include moral axioms in our list of axioms defining what we can do in our system(s)? Why or why not?