Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Learning meaning

12.1 A block-arch scenario
12.2 Learning meaning
12.3 Uniframes
12.4 Structure and function
12.5 The function of structures
12.6 Accumulation
12.7 Accumulation strategies
12.8 Problems of disunity
12.9 The exception principle
12.10 How towers work
12.11 How causes work
12.12 Meaning and definition
12.13 Bridge-definitions

--------------------------------
12.1 A block-arch scenario, p 119
[Note: not a self-contained page; rather introduction, the
conclusions of which are to be drawn in the following pages]

12.2 Learning meaning, p 120
Uniframing: combining several descriptions into one, for example
by observing that all the arches have common parts.

Accumulating: collecting incompatible descriptions, for example
by forming the phrase "block or wedge".

Reformulating: modifying a description's character, for example,
by describing the separate blocks rather than the overall shape.

Trans-framing: bridging between structures and functions or
actions, for example by relating the concept of arch to the act
of changing hands.

It seems to me that the older words used in psychology -such as
generalizing, practicing, conditioning, memorizing, or
associating- are either too vague to be useful or have become
connected to theories that simply aren't sound. In the meantime,
the revolutions of computer science and Artificial Intelligence
have led to new ideas about how various kinds of learning might
work, and the new ideas deserve new names.

12.3 Uniframes, p 121
Our child's *Block-Arch* uniframe was constructed in several
steps[:]
- The first step dissects the scene into blocks with specific
properties and relationships.
- *Enforcement*
- *Prevention*
- *Tolerance*

12.5 The function of structures, p 123
[Uniframes are encapsulations -classes?- of components and
functions]
To catch the proper meaning, we need connections between parts
of the chair structure and the requirements of the human body
that those parts are supposed to serve.

12.7 Accumulation strategies, p 125
This leads us to an inescapable difficulty. Our various motives
and concerns are likely to require incompatible ways to classify
things. You can't predict a dog's bite from its bark.
[multiple inheritance?]

12.9 The exception principle, p 127
We should never expect rules to be perfect.
[breakdown]

12.13 Bridge-definitions, p 131
Purposeful definitions are usually too loose. They include many
things that we do not intend.
Structural definitions are usually too tight. They reject many
things we want to include.

[We need to] bridge between the "ends" we seek and the "means"
we have.

[Meanings correspond] to connections among and across fragments
of the great interlocking networks of connections and
constraints among our agencies [...].
Meanings are rarely sharp, and we cannot always expect to be
able to "define" them in terms of compact sequences of words.