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An attempt to explain the concept of ecology of mind
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Ecology of mind: How pa2erns “live” in cogni9ve ecosystem
Kai Pata Emanuele Bardone
Work in process!
Cogni9ve ecosystem
• Mind is a property of cogni9ve ecosystems (Hutchins,…).
• The unit of analysis for mind must be the cultural/cogni0ve ecosystem (Deacon, 1997; Jablonka & Lamb, 2005).
• However, it has not been sorted out how cogni9ve ecosystem works as an ecosystem.
• Our inten9on is to explain cogni0ve ecosystem as an abstract cogni0ve space – an affordance space.
Pa2erns and affordances
• A pa2ern is a solu0on to problems in a field of interest.
• The pa2erns tend to focus on the interac0ons between the physical form of the built environment, and the way in which that inhibits or facilitates various sorts of personal and social behavior within it (Alexander et al., 1976).
• Therefore, it may be assumed that pa2erns incorporate the affordances associated with the effec0ve problem solu0on.
Pa2erns in cogni9ve ecosystem
• Culture propagates itself with pa?erns and pa?ern systems (languages).
• The pa?erns are loosely connected across scales: any given pa2ern typically points to smaller scale pa2erns which can support it, and larger scale pa2erns in which it may par9cipate (Alexander et al., 1976).
“Marking” pa2ern family • “Marking” is a family of pa2erns of sense-‐making, place-‐making, communica9ng and learning pa2ern species.
trail
marker
dissipa9on
accumula9on
finding
sharing learning
filtering
evalua9ng searching
concentra9on
owning
storing remembering
Original pa2ern “bookmark” • Pa2ern solu9on: mark to find the right page in the book Marker affords to “find the page”
Associated z=1
Non-‐damaging x=0 Damaging x=1
Associated z=1 Removable y=1 Not associated z=0 Associated z=1
Non-‐damaging x=0 Removable y=1 Removable y=1
Non-‐damaging x=0 Non-‐removable y=0
Affordance “finding the page” for each example is a posi9on in n-‐dimensional room, but all the affordance instances define the niche for “find the page” pa2ern, In this niche different readers can iden9fy this pa2ern.
x y z
Con9nued Hidden constraint (what is not afforded) for these pa2ern instances: cannot keep the line
Extended pa2ern from “bookmark” • Pa2ern solu9on: keep the line in the book text
Associated (tangled) affordances: Marker affords to “find the page” and “keep the line”
Keeping the line with finger Keeping the line with bookmarker
Associated z=1
Non-‐damaging x=0
Removable y=1
Not associated z=0 Not Associated z=0
Non-‐damaging x=0
Removable y=1 Removable y=1 Non-‐damaging x=0
y
z
x
For associated affordances, each affordance occupies a dis9nct posi9on. If the posi9ons of two associated affordances are same, this enables to redirect finding one or another affordance. Con9nued
New pa2ern “social bookmark” • Pa2ern solu9on: marker affords “storing bookmarks to find many
sources”
Shared m=1 Shared m=1
Distributed n=1
Not shared m=0
Not distributed n=0 Not distributed n=0
m
n
Self-‐organized k=1 Not self-‐organized k=0 k Explora9ve l=1 Not explora9ve l=0 l
Affordance occupies a different niche that is not associated with any dimensions to the niche for original “bookmark” pa2ern.
New dimension opens another affordance – discovering new sources
Pa2ern “ library” Pa2ern “ social bookmark”
Original “bookmark”
Extended “bookmark”
New “social bookmark”
“library catalogue”
Pa2erns as niches in affordance space
Associa9ng two dis9nct niches to extend the original niche requires no9cing and incorpora9ng an extra dimension to the pa2ern. This extra dimension may be associated with one of the pa2ern (affordance) dimensions (e.g. self-‐organized with explora9ve).
Enlarged niche for “bookmark”
x
y
z affordance
Pa2ern niche is internally-‐externally distributed
Every ac9on is cogni9vely afforded internally and externally (Zhang & Patel, 2006) -‐ so full affordance (set of affordances) that pa2ern is is composed of both dimensions
Pa2erns are symbionts • Pa2erns in this case are symbionts (like lichens), that exist as a distributed composi9on of culture-‐propagated dimensions and mind-‐propagated dimensions of individuals that come to life in the moment of ac9on.
So every pa2ern has culture determined variability (slow feedback loop, is possible to see to what direc9on culture is moving) and person-‐determined variability (quick feedback loop, unpredictable and bound to personal experiences)
• Affordance emerges when pa2ern-‐symbiont needs to ac9vate itself.
Pa2erns are embodied
Pa?erns are embodied as concrete prototypes, rather than abstract principles (Alexander et al., 1976).
Embodiment of pa2ern prototypes has person-‐dependent and culture-‐dependent component and variability.
Biological ecosystem components
Ecosystem consists of communi9es and abio9c factors.
Communi0es associate networked species.
Communi0es and abio9c factors compose habitats for species.
Communi9es transform the energy and ma?er keeping it in the flowing state and rebuild/change the habitat keeping it evolving.
A species contains a variety self-‐directed specimen with certain variety of phenotypes and genotypes and behaviors who interact with the habitat that the community creates.
The habitat factors that influence the fitness of the species may be conceptualized as a niche.
Fitness of specimen to the niche determines, what phenotypes, genotypes and behaviours form the current form of a species.
NB. I must check if all is correct here
Cogni9ve ecosystem Pa?erns are species that exist in the socio-‐technological habitat of culture.
Pa?erns form networks – pa2ern systems – that have structural appearance (e.g. designs, architectural pa2erns) and process appearance (ac9va9on of some pa2erns may increase the likelihood of the ac9va9on of the associated pa2erns) .
Pa2ern systems may be conceptualized as pa?ern communi0es.
Pa?ern communi0es exist in the socio-‐technological habitat of the culture.
Cogni9ve ecosystem
• Pa2ern is a distributed niche in affordance space of the culture that repeats itself in this culture's niche, and of what the individuals are aware of or can perceive easily.
Distributed affordance space
Dimensions of culture 1
Dimensions of culture 2
Pa2ern with pa2ern instances
Culturally bound mind
Pa2ern niche
Actualized affordances of the pa2ern instance
Cogni9ve ecosystem Pa2erns have a variety of pa?ern
instances (fenotype, dimensions, behaviour differ).
Pa2ern-‐instances become ac9vated when coupled with individual minds in the cultural habitat.
• The habitat factors that influence the fitness of the pa2ern may be conceptualized as a niche.
• The fitness of each pa2ern instance in the niche of the currently ac9vated pa2ern system community and pa2ern niche (personal mind determined variability) determines the pa2ern-‐instances that can survive and propagate themselves in the pa2ern species among the other pa2erns of the pa2ern community (culture determined variability).
Pa2ern 1
Pa2ern 2
Pa2ern 3
Currently ac9vated pa2erns in cultural habitat
Cogni9ve niche of the culture
Pa2ern niche
Cogni9ve ecosystem
Dimensions of the cultural niche are in dynamic change, evolving due to embodied cogni9on – dimensions are integrated to the pa2erns or omi2ed from them, extending or narrowing pa2ern niches.
Pa2ern instance
Pa2ern instance
Personal space
A pa2ern-‐species consists of instances
Shared/cultural space
Crea9ve space
Three spaces in cogni9ve ecosystem
• 1) Personal or tacit space. This space is not available to others and it cannot be en9rely shared.
• 2) Shared/joint/public space/cultural space. This space grapples cultural pa2erns as shared pa2erns in a given niche.
• 3) Crea0ve space. In this space a person revives pre-‐exis9ng cultural pa2erns.
Cogni9ve ecosystem • Ac9vity in the nervous system is linked to high-‐level cogni9ve processes by way of embodied interac0on with culturally organized material and social worlds (Hutchins, 2008).
• Embodied cogni0on is ac9va9on of pa2erns from culture in the externally-‐internally distributed mul9-‐dimensional dynamic affordance space to carry out ac9ons.
• Cogni9ve ecosystem as an affordance space appears from many socio-‐technologically-‐culturally situated humans’ ac9ons.
Pa2erns in cogni9ve ecosystem
Pa2ern instance niche dimensions carry genotype varia9ons of this pa2ern species.
Pa2ern prototype is a species that exists in affordance space (culture’s niche) as a dynamic sum of all pa2ern instance niches. The fitness landscape in affordance space indicates more fit (more abundant) “living” pa2ern instance types of this pa2ern species in current 9me.
Designed “domes9cated” instances
Wild instances
Pa2ern instance ac9va9ons – “living instances” (actualizing some affordances ) reveal the fitness of these instances in culture’s habitat.
Pa2ern phenotype variability Pa2ern behaviour
Pa2ern species genotypical variability
Culture’s habitat
Culture’s niche in affordance space
Pa2ern instance
