Observer Mechanics

A Formal Theory of Perception

1st Edition - June 28, 1989
Authors: Bruce M. Bennett, Donald D. Hoffman, Chetan Prakash
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 6 3 1 3 - 7

Observer Mechanics: A Formal Theory of Perception provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of perception. This book provides an approach to the study of perception… Read more

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Observer Mechanics: A Formal Theory of Perception provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of perception. This book provides an approach to the study of perception that attempts to be both general and rigorous. Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the structure of perceptual capacity. This text then presents the relationship between observers and Turing machines. Other chapters provide a formal framework in which to describe an observer and its objects of perception, and then develop from this framework a perceptual dynamics. This book discusses as well the conditions in which an observer may be said to perceive truly and discusses how stabilities in perceptual dynamics might permit the genesis of higher level observers. The final chapter deals with the relationship between the formalisms of quantum mechanics and observer mechanics. This book is a valuable resource for physicists, psychophysicists, philosophers, cognitive scientists, and perceptual psychologists.

Preface

Chapter 1. Principles

1. Introduction

2. Principles

3. Bug Observer

4. Biological Motion Observer

Chapter 2. Definition of Observer

1. Mathematical Notation and Terminology

2. Definition of Observer

3. Ideal Observers

4. Noise

5. Examples of Observers

6. Transduction

7. Theory Neutrality of Observation

Chapter 3. Perception and Computation

1. Turing Observers

2. Turing Simulation

3. Discretization

4. Effective Simulation: The Algebraic Case

Chapter 4. Semantics

1. Observer/World Interface: Introduction

2. Scenarios

3. Meaning and Truth Conditions

4. Extended Semantics

5. Hierarchical Analytic Strategies and Nondualism

Chapter 5. Reflexive Frameworks

1. Mathematical Notation and Terminology

2. Definition of Reflexive Observer Framework

3. Channeling on Reflexive Frameworks

4. Formal Examples of Reflexive Frameworks

5. Symmetric Observer Frameworks

6. Example: Instantaneous Rotation

Chapter 6. Introduction to Dynamics

1. Mathematical Notation and Terminology

2. Fundamentals of Dynamics

3. Kinematics of a Single Participator

4. Kinematics of Pairs

5. True Perception Among Pairs

6. An Example

Chapter 7. Formal Dynamics

1. Some Fundamentals

2. The τ-Distribution

3. Augmented Dynamics

4. Augmented Dynamics and Standard Dynamics

5. Descent of Markov Chains

6. Summary of Formulae

Chapter 8. Perceptions and Realities

1. Introduction

2. Relativization

3. Diagrammatic Representation of Descent Conditions

4. Trace Chains and their Descent

5. Compatibility of Multiple Descents

6. Matching Perception to Reality

Chapter 9. Towards Specialization

1. Introduction to Specialization

2. Hierarchical Analytic Strategies Revisited

3. Framework Specialization

4. On Ullman's Incremental Rigidity Procedure

5. Chain-Bundle Specialization

Chapter 10. Relation to Quantum Mechanics

1. Quantum Systems and Imprimitivity

2. Cocycles and Bundles

3. Canonical Linearization

Epilogue

References

Index

Notation Index