The Hidden Pattern: A Patternist Philosophy of Mind

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Universal-Publishers, 2006 - Computers - 421 pages
The Hidden Pattern presents a novel philosophy of mind, intended to form a coherent conceptual framework within which it is possible to understand the diverse aspects of mind and intelligence in a unified way. The central concept of the philosophy presented is the concept of "pattern" minds and the world they live in and co-create are viewed as patterned systems of patterns, evolving over time, and various aspects of subjective experience and individual and social intelligence are analyzed in detail in this light. Many of the ideas presented are motivated by recent research in artificial intelligence and cognitive science, and the author's own AI research is discussed in moderate detail in one chapter. However, the scope of the book is broader than this, incorporating insights from sources as diverse as Vedantic philosophy, psychedelic psychotherapy, Nietzschean and Peircean metaphysics and quantum theory. One of the unique aspects of the patternist approach is the way it seamlessly fuses the mechanistic, engineering-oriented approach to intelligence and the introspective, experiential approach to intelligence.
 

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Contents

Preface
v
Acknowledgements
ix
MetaPhilosophy
11
Kinds of Minds
17
Universal Mind
27
Intelligence
43
Experience
53
Four Levels of Mind
69
Language
179
Toward Artificial Minds
195
PostEmbodied Mind
251
Causation
263
Belief and Self Systems
275
Creative Intuition
295
Mindfulness and Evil
329
Immortality
339

Complexity
81
Quantum Reality and Mind
91
Free Will
125
Emotion
131
Evolution
137
Autopoiesis
149
Science
163
Compassion and Ethics
347
Conclusion
353
Toward A Mathematical Theory of Pattern
355
Toward a Mathematical Theory of Mind
391
Notes on the Formalization of Causal Inference
407
References
411
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