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CSLI Calendar, 08 Feb 1996, vol.11:15
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To: friends@Arch.Stanford.EDU
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Subject: CSLI Calendar, 08 Feb 1996, vol.11:15
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From: Tom Burke <burke@Csli.Stanford.EDU>
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Date: Wed, 7 Feb 1996 12:59:56 -0800 (PST)
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C S L I C A L E N D A R O F P U B L I C E V E N T S
______________________________________________________________________________
8 February 1996 Stanford Vol. 11, No. 15
______________________________________________________________________________
A weekly publication of the Center for the Study of Language and
Information (CSLI), Stanford University, Ventura Hall, Stanford, CA 94305-4115
____________
CSLI ACTIVITIES DURING 8 -- 16 FEBRUARY 1996
THURSDAY, 8 FEBRUARY
10:00 - STASS Seminar
Cordura Hall, Room 100
The Grammar of the Attitudes
B. Hartley Slater, U Western Australia & CSLI
Abstract below
12:00 - CSLI CogLunch
Cordura Hall, Room 100
The Scientific Study of Consciousness: Problems and Prospects
Pat Suppes, Stanford Philosophy
Abstract below
4:15 - SSP Forum
Meyer Media Center (2nd floor, Meyer Library)
Multimedia Possibilities in Meyer Media Center (A Tour)
7:30 - Stanford Phonology Workshop
Building 460, Room 146
Morphology as Constraints on Feature Realization
Sharon Rose, McGill University & UC Berkeley
Abstract below
FRIDAY, 9 FEBRUARY
12:00 - Logic Lunch
Building 380, Room 383-N
Equivalence in Finite Variable Logics is Complete for
Polynomial Time
Martin Grohe, Stanford Visitor
Abstract below
12:30 - HCI Seminar
Skilling Auditorium
Information Technologies and Post-Communist Convulsions:
The Croatian Experience
Enver Sehovic, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract below
3:15 - Philosophy Department Colloquium
Encina Hall, Room 423
On the Nature of Phenomenal Consciousness
Guven Guzeldere, Stanford Philosophy & CSLI
Abstract below
3:30 - Linguistics Department Colloquium
Building 460, Room 146
Re-Examining the Birth and Significance of the
Plantation Creole
John McWhorter, UC Berkeley
Abstract below
TUESDAY, 13 FEBRUARY
7:00 - SSP Film Series
Cubberley Education Building, Room 133
Secret of the Wild Child [portrait of Genie, kept in
isolation until adolescence] (1994)
Abstract below
7:15 - Philosophy of Computation Seminar
Cordura Hall, Room 100
Readings in Computation: The Origin of Objects
Brian Cantwell Smith, Xerox PARC
THURSDAY, 15 FEBRUARY
12:00 - CSLI CogLunch
Cordura Hall, Room 100
Imaging Human Brain Activity
Brian Wandell, Stanford Psychology
4:15 - SSP Forum
Building 60, Room 61-F
Untangling the Web
Srinija Srinivasan, Yahoo! Corporation
Abstract below
FRIDAY, 16 FEBRUARY
12:30 - HCI Seminar
Skilling Auditorium
Vizability
Gayle Curtis, Scott Kim, and Kristina Hooper Woolsey,
3:15 - Philosophy Department Colloquium
Encina Hall, Room 423
Animal Intentionality and the Metarepresentation Hypothesis
Kim Sterelny, Victoria University (New Zealand)
____________
The CSLI Calendar appears on Wednesdays weekly throughout the academic year.
Announcements, abstracts, and other information to appear in the Calendar can
be submitted by e-mail to [incalendar@csli.stanford.edu].
Further information about CSLI and past issues of the CSLI Calendar
are available on the Internet at URL [http://www-csli.stanford.edu/csli/].
The Calendar is also posted each week to the [csli.bboard] newsgroup.
____________
STASS SEMINAR
on Thursday, 8 February
10:00 a.m., Cordura Hall, Room 100
The Grammar of the Attitudes
B. Hartley Slater
Univ Western Australia & CSLI
[slater@csli.stanford.edu]
In his recent essay "A Perspectivalist Semantics for the Attitudes" (1995)
Walter Edelberg aims to explain certain linguistic phenomena. I shall show in
this talk that there is a much better explanation of them. The advantage of
the present account of the attitudes is not just that it reduces the
metaphysics in Edelberg's and other accounts, returning us to a natural
conception of grammar. There are also major theoretical difficulties with
those other accounts, in trying to talk about, and yet, contradictorily, kerep
private, the objects on people's minds, which the present account has no
trouble with at all.
____________
CSLI COGLUNCH
on Thursday, 8 February
12:00 noon, Cordura Hall, Room 100
The Scientific Study of Consciousness: Problems and Prospects
Pat Suppes
Stanford Philosophy
[suppes@csli.stanford.edu]
Reflecting the title, the talk is divided into three main parts: Various
senses of consciousness; what are the objects of consciousness; the dramatic
contrast between consciousness of processes (hitting a tennis ball, finding a
proof) and the results of such processes. Perhaps the most important
conceptual aspect of consciousness is that we are much more aware of
perceptual and cognitive aspects of results than processes. Skepticism about
deterministic theories of mental computations and intentions will be expressed
along the way.
COGLUNCH WINTER SCHEDULE
Theme: Consciousness
1/18: JOHN FLAVELL (Psychology, Stanford U.) "The Development of Children's
Knowledge About Thinking and Consciousness"
1/25: GUVEN GUZELDERE (Philosophy & CSLI, Stanford U.) "The Nature of
Phenomenal Consciousness"
2/01: DAVID SPIEGEL (Psychiatry, Stanford U.) "Disintegrated Experience:
Dissociation, Hypnosis and Trauma"
2/08: PAT SUPPES (Philosophy, Stanford U.) "The Scientific Study of
Consciousness: Problems and Prospects"
2/15: BRIAN WANDELL (Psychology, Stanford U.) "Imaging Human Brain Activity"
2/22: WALTER FREEMAN (Neurobiology, UC Berkeley) "A Biological View of
Consciousness and Intentionality"
2/29: DAVID CHALMERS (Philosophy, UC Santa Cruz) "On the Search for a Neural
Correlate of Consciousness"
3/07: ALAN WALLACE (Religious Studies, Stanford U.) "Attentional Training,
Introspection, and the Investigation of Consciousness in Tibetan
Buddhism"
____________
SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS FORUM
on Thursday, 8 February
4:15 p.m., Meyer Media Center (2nd floor, Meyer Library)
Multimedia Possibilities in Meyer Media Center (A Tour)
A tour of Meyer Media Center's multimedia tools and capabilities. The Media
Center's resources for doing multimedia work have been growing. Come see what
is available, or bring a project idea and find out what they have to help you!
(Note the change in location.)
____________
STANFORD PHONOLOGY WORKSHOP
on Thursday, 8 February
Building 460, Room 146
Morphology as Constraints on Feature Realization
Sharon Rose
McGill University & UC Berkeley
I will explore the realization of a morphological category (2nd singular
feminine subject) across the South Ethiopian Semitic language family, showing
how this category is expressed primarily by the feature [front] appearing on
an array of different targets in the verb stem. I will discuss the best means
to account for its disparate realization: as an underlying "floating" feature
or as a series of constraints in Optimality Theory. I will then argue that
dialect variation with respect to the realization of the feature can be
expressed not only by constraint ranking differences within Optimality Theory,
but also by variable interpretation of a constraint. Reduplication data
interacting with the feature [front] will also be discussed, demonstrating
that base-reduplicant identity may be violated due to restrictions on targets.
Finally, I will look at cases where the feature [front] is not realized in the
output; while this allows for better faithfulness to the input, it only occurs
if the morphological category can be expressed elsewhere.
____________
LOGIC LUNCH
on Friday, 9 February
12:00 noon, Building 380, Room 383-N
Equivalence in Finite Variable Logics is Complete for
Polynomial Time
Martin Grohe
Stanford Visitor
[grohe@math.stanford.edu]
It is a natural question to ask how complex it is to decide whether two
finites structures can be distinguished in a given logic. For first order
logic, this leads to the graph isomorphism problem with its well-known
complexity theoretic difficulties. (It is conjectured that the graph
isomorphism problem, which is obviously in nondeterministic polynomial time,
is neither decidable in polynomial time nor complete for nondeterministic
polynomial time.) Somewhat surprisingly, the situation is much clearer when
considering the fragments of first order logic whose formulae contain at most
k (free or bounded) variables (for any k>1). We show that for these logics the
problem of deciding equivalence is complete for polynomial time (under the
very weak quantifier free reductions).
____________
SEMINAR ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
on Friday, 9 February
12:30 p.m., Skilling Auditorium
Information Technologies and Post-Communist Convulsions:
The Croatian Experience
Enver Sehovic
University of Zagreb, Croatia
[sehovic@tel.fer.hr]
Following the development line which has its roots in private property, market
economy, human rights and democracy, Western countries have adopted a
consistent strategy for setting up what is usually called the Information
Society. Simultaneously, after the breakdown of communism, a transition
process had been launched and is now on the way in Eastern and Middle Europe.
This process is more painful than it was expected, and the collapse of the old
system -- as the example of former Yugoslavia shows -- may become a serious
threat to stability in a much wider area.
Some major problems which have been inherited from the former regimes, and
those which were generated afterwards, will be presented. The presentation is
not intended to open a general discussion on post-communism; it should provide
a framework for a more detailed analysis of the ways how information
technologies and services could be used in such specific conditions to support
a positive evolution of these societies.
The ultimate objectives are clear (privatised, restructured, modernised and
market-driven economy, social stability, human rights, democracy, quality of
life), but the paths which should be followed to meet these objectives are not
so obvious. If Western countries are entering the Information Society from a
socio-economic level which they have attained already, what are the practical
implications of the inverted approach, that is, of using a higher-level
philosophy (Information Society) to improve the underlying structure of the
ex-socialist countries? What role may play the information technologies if
these countries are to be brought, and not just linked, to the West? These are
the key points and they will be discussed in terms of applicable development
strategies, human resources, knowledge-based programs, and international
co-operation, particularly academic co-operation.
The Croatian experience and some actions and programs that have been prepared,
particularly in relation with Dubrovnik, are used as an illustration of the
speaker's ideas.
ENVER SEHOVIC, full professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of
Electrical Engineering and Computing, was born in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1938.
He received his B.Sc, M.Sc and PhD degrees from the University of Zagreb in
1962, 1966 and 1970, respectively. Being with the University since 1963, he
began his academic career in the field of digital communications. His present
interests are focused on computer networking and telematic services. Author
and co-author of more than 120 papers and 2 books, Prof.Sehovic devoted a
substantial part of his capacities to co-operation with the industry and with
the telecom operator in Croatia.
In 1984 he was elected President of the Assembly of the University of Zagreb
(a position which was equivalent to the one of University Presidents in the
US), and was re-elected in 1986 for another 2-years term. A program of
substantial development of the University, accompanied by massive investments
in new buildings, equipment, student facilities and young researchers, was
prepared and carried out during the 4 years of his office. Since 1987 he is
Deputy Director-General of the Inter-University Centre for Postgraduate
Studies in Dubrovnik (IUC), an institution which gathers some 200 universities
>From all over the world.
As one of the leading persons of the reformist group in previous regime,
Prof.Sehovic has also left some trace on the political scene in Croatia. He
fought for a substantial democratisation of the country and for its alignment
with Western standards and values. He publicly opposed the Serbian President
Milosevic at the time when very few people dared to do it in former
Yugoslavia. In 1970 Prof.Sehovic won the highest Croatian award "Nikola Tesla"
for achievements in technical sciences. His record is included in the Marquis
"Who's who in the World" and in the UNESCO's directory of experts in
informatics. He is also the designer of the Dubrovnik Web site:
<http://tjev.tel.fer.hr/dubrovnik/> .
____________
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
on Friday, 9 February
3:15 p.m., Encina Hall, Room 423
On the Nature of Phenomenal Consciousness
Guven Guzeldere
Stanford Philosophy & CSLI
[guven@csli.stanford.edu]
What is the nature of the qualitative character of experiences -- e.g., what
it's like to see red or taste something sour, or the hurtfulness of pains?
Such qualities are generally taken to be intrinsic, atomic, and
non-relational. I will argue for an alternative construal, and try to
substantiate the thesis that the phenomenal character of experiences lie in
their causal and representational relations to other experiences and
propositional attitudes, as well as to states of the body (in which they
occur). In this light, I will also reexamine the plausibility of old puzzles
like Absent Qualia.
____________
LINGUISTICS DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
on Friday, 9 February
3:30 p.m., Building 460, Room 146
Re-Examining the Birth and Significance of the Plantation Creole
John McWhorter
UC Berkeley Linguistics
[jhm5@uclink4.berkeley.edu]
Creole studies is a contentious field, but there is a common consensus that
plantation creoles resulted from second-language acquisition amidst uniquely
deprived input, the idea being that the disproportion of learners to speakers
on the typical colonial plantation acted as a "filter" upon European
languages. In this talk I will suggest that the presumed causal link between
plantation demographics and the appearance of plantation creoles is mistaken.
A wealth of evidence converges upon placing the emergence of these creoles as
trade/work pidgins in West African trade settlements, established by Europeans
and staffed by Africans during the slave trade. Furthermore, upon examination
the conception of plantations as language filters is less sociolinguistically
tenable than traditionally thought. The thesis is motivated in part by an
anomaly hitherto neglected in creole studies, the fact that creoles repeatedly
failed to emerge in plantation colonies run by Spain. I will present a
revised account of the birth of these languages which explains this anomaly
and others, the goal being a genesis theory which can both tackle the range of
data unearthed since the late 1960s while also retaining refutability.
____________
SSP FILM SERIES
on Tuesday, 13 February
7:00 p.m., Cubberley Education Bldg, Room 133
Secret of the Wild Child (1994)
This hour-long documentary from the series "Nova" profiles "Genie," a girl
whose parents kept her in near total isolation from infancy. When social
workers discovered her as a teenager, Genie had not learned to walk or talk.
"Secret of the Wild Child" includes never-before-seen footage of Genie during
her rehabilitation and probes how and when we learn the skills that make us
human. A horrifying story about cruelty and the effects of extreme
deprivation.
The Symbolic Systems Film Series showcases films and tapes of general
cognitive science interest. Attendance at film series events can substitute
for attendance at the Symbolic Systems Forum for students enrolled in SSP 10
for one unit. All are welcome at these events. The showing of the videos is
followed by a discussion, and researchers who are knowledgeable about the
program's topic are urged to join us in evaluating it.
____________
PHILOSOPHY OF COMPUTATION SEMINAR
on Tuesday, 13 February
7:15 p.m., Cordura Hall, Room 100
Readings in Computation: The Origin of Objects
Brian Cantwell Smith
Xerox PARC and Stanford Philosophy
[bcsmith@parc.xerox.com]
____________
CSLI COGLUNCH
on Thursday, 15 February
12:00 noon, Cordura Hall, Room 100
Imaging Human Brain Activity
Brian Wandell
Stanford Psychology
____________
SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS FORUM
on Thursday, 15 February
4:15 p.m., Building 60, Room 61-F
Untangling the Web
Srinija Srinivasan
Yahoo! Corporation
I'll give a brief history of Yahoo -- how it all started, and how it has
evolved from being a hobby of two Stanford grad students to a successful
Internet company. I'll talk about my role in designing the overall
categorization/classification scheme, and the challenges associated with
maintaining a large, heterogenous database, keeping it as intuitive,
efficient, logical, and consistent as possible.
I'll also explore several interesting issues that Yahoo faces with regards to
information organization, including:
(1) is it possible to devise a classification scheme that is simultaneously
useful to both the naive and expert user;
(2) given that this is the *World* Wide Web, can we (should we?) construct a
browsable database that is truly universal in perspective, as opposed to
being biased toward one specific geographic locale;
(3) and perhaps most importantly, how can directories like Yahoo remain
neutral and objective in presenting information, when the mere act of
classification is inherently editorial.
SRINIJA SRINIVASAN manages Yahoo Corp.'s team of cataloguers and is
responsible for the design and maintenance of Yahoo!'s overall classification
and organization scheme, making it the most intuitive, robust, expandable and
efficient guide for online information and discovery.
Prior to joining Yahoo! Corp., Srinija was involved with the Cyc Project, a
ten year artificial intelligence effort to build an immense database of human
commonsense knowledge, via two companies: Microelectronics and Computer
Technology Corporation (MCC) and Cycorp. At Cycorp, Srinija independently
managed its California-based office, and helped develop the Cyc technology
into innovative areas such as database browsing and integration.
Srinija's other professional and academic accomplishments include an intensive
summer in Japan as a researcher and programmer for Fujitsu Laboratories, and
published research papers in journals including Government Information
Quarterly ("Privacy and Data Protection in Japan") and the Journal of
Technology Transfer.
Srinija holds a B.S. with distinction from Stanford University in Symbolic
Systems and conducted course work in Japan, and is proficient in both written
and spoken Japanese.
____________
SEMINAR ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
on Friday, 9 February
12:30 p.m., Skilling Auditorium
Vizability
Gayle Curtis, Scott Kim, and Kristina Hooper Woolsey,
[curtis@roses.stanford.edu]
____________
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
on Friday, 9 February
3:15 p.m., Encina Hall, Room 423
Animal Intentionality and the Metarepresentation Hypothesis
Kim Sterelny
Victoria University (New Zealand)
____________