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CSLI Calendar, 15 Feb 1996, vol.11:16
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To: friends@Arch.Stanford.EDU
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Subject: CSLI Calendar, 15 Feb 1996, vol.11:16
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From: Tom Burke <burke@Csli.Stanford.EDU>
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Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 02:04:31 -0800 (PST)
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Flags: 000000000000
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
______________________________________________________________________________
15 February 1996 Stanford Vol. 11, No. 16
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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 15 -- 23 FEBRUARY 1996
THURSDAY, 15 FEBRUARY
10:00 - STASS Seminar
Cordura Hall, Room 100
Demonstration of an Organic Programming Language "Gaea"
Hideyuki Nakashima
Abstract below
12:00 - CSLI CogLunch
Cordura Hall, Room 100
Imaging Human Brain Activity
Brian Wandell, Stanford Psychology
Abstract below
3:30 - Philosophy Department Colloquium
Encina Hall, Room 106 (Food Research wing)
The Significance of Authenticity
Randall Havas, Yale Philosophy
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 [TM]: Interactive Multimedia for Visual Thinking
Gayle Curtis, Scott Kim, and Kristina Hooper Woolsey
Abstract below
3:15 - Philosophy Department Colloquium
Encina Hall, Room 423
Animal Intentionality and the Metarepresentation Hypothesis
Kim Sterelny, Victoria University (New Zealand)
Abstract below
TUESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY
7:00 - SSP Film Series
Cubberley Education Building, Room 133
In Search of the First Language (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
WEDNESDAY, 21 FEBRUARY
3:15 - Semantics Workshop
Cordura Hall, Room 104
Scope Ambiguities with Negative Quantifiers
Henriette de Swart, Stanford Linguistics
Abstract below
THURSDAY, 22 FEBRUARY
10:00 - STASS Seminar
Cordura Hall, Room 100
Barwise--Seligman Reading Group (cont'd)
Keith Devlin, CSLI & St.Mary's
Abstract below
12:00 - CSLI CogLunch
Cordura Hall, Room 100
A Biological View of Consciousness and Intentionality
Walter Freeman, UC Berkeley Neurobiology
Abstract below
FRIDAY, 23 FEBRUARY
12:30 - HCI Seminar
Skilling Auditorium
Space Craft: Perceptual Aids for Cognitive Activity
Kevin Mullet, Macromedia
Abstract below
3:15 - Philosophy Department Colloquium
Building 60, Room 61-G
A Discussion of Self-Deception
Donald Davidson (UC Berkeley Philosophy), Jean-Pierre Dupuy
(Stanford French & Italian), Ariela Lazar (Stanford Philosophy)
Abstract below
3:30 - Linguistics Department Colloquium
Cordura Hall, Room 100 (Different Location)
Title to be announced
Jane Grimshaw, Rutgers Linguistics
____________
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, 15 February
10:00 a.m., Cordura Hall, Room 100
Demonstration of an Organic Programming Language "Gaea"
Hideyuki Nakashima
ETL
[nakashima@csli.stanford.edu]
Gaea is a logic based programming language recently developed at ETL. Its
underlying design principle is "organic programming", a new software
methodology modeled after the flexibility of organic systems such as plants
and animals.
Three applications of Gaea are demonstrated:
- A simple car driving example to show the basic features of organic
programming.
- Japanese dialogue system JUNO developed by John Fry. JUNO is designed to
reflect `situatedness' of Japanese language.
- Soccer playing programs and soccer server developed by Itsuki Noda. This
application demonstrates the ability of organic programming to describe
complex situated actions of multi-agents.
____________
CSLI COGLUNCH
on Thursday, 15 February
12:00 noon, Cordura Hall, Room 100
Imaging Human Brain Activity
Brian Wandell
Stanford Psychology
I will discuss some of the methods used in measuring human brain activity
using functional magnetic resonance imaging. I will conclude with a
description of some measurements of the representation of color in human
visual cortex and a discussion of our plans.
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"
____________
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
on Thursday, 15 February
3:30 p.m., Encina Hall, Room 106 (Food Research wing)
The Significance of Authenticity
Randall Havas
Yale Philosophy
____________
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, 16 February
12:30 p.m., Skilling Auditorium
VizAbility [TM]: Interactive Multimedia for Visual Thinking
Gayle Curtis, Scott Kim, and Kristina Hooper Woolsey,
[curtis@roses.stanford.edu]
VizAbility is an interactive multimedia package designed to help you discover
your natural visual abilities. With VizAbility you can explore and improve
your visual skills, develop problem solving abilities, and learn to think,
imagine, and communicate in new ways.
The primary goals of the VizAbility package are:
* To familiarize you with culture of people who use visual skills in
their daily work
* To make you aware of your own visual abilities
* To exercise and improve your skills in drawing and visual imagination
* To incorporate these skills into your daily life and professional
activities
Through movies and interviews you can observe people who are part of this
culture, listen to their ideas and explore their workspaces. Through puzzles,
exercises and tutorial elements you can hone your skills in seeing, drawing,
diagramming, and imagining. The product includes both a CD-ROM and a book, and
is intended to be used in engineering, art and creativity courses, as well as
by individuals at home. It is based in part on material from the Stanford
Visual Thinking course, ME101.
In this talk the authors will discuss the genesis and realization of this
interactive multimedia product. Topics include: how classroom exercises were
adapted to the computer medium, innovative uses of video in multimedia, and
how visual skills can be taught through games.
KRISTINA HOOPER WOOLSEY is a Distinguished Scientist at Apple Computer, Inc.,
where she has combined her expertise in psychology and interface design to
produce a number of multimedia products and to research educationally
significant media-rich communications.
SCOTT KIM is a multimedia designer and puzzle designer. He has published a
number of books and software titles, writes a monthly puzzle column for
NewMedia Magazine, and currently works as a game designer at Rocket Science
Games.
GAYLE CURTIS is a product design engineer and Lecturer at Stanford University
who has taught the Visual Thinking course and related workshops. He is
currently teaching CS247a, a studio course in HCI design.
____________
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
on Friday, 16 February
3:15 p.m., Encina Hall, Room 423
Animal Intentionality and the Metarepresentation Hypothesis
Kim Sterelny
Victoria University (New Zealand)
Which organisms should we think of as representing their environment, and
responding to those representations? Which organisms -- in this primitive
sense -- think and act? Can we distinguish Living Systems from
Representational Systems? On some views of representation, most notably Ruth
Milikan's, there is no such distinction. I have argued before against this
view. Not all living creatures represent aspects of their world. Among those
that do, arguably, there is a further important distinction. Some organisms
have beliefs and desires; they are Intentional Systems. Other organisms
represent their world in less sophisticated ways; they are Subintentional
Systems. My focus in this talk will be this divide within Representational
Systems.
____________
SSP FILM SERIES
on Tuesday, 20 February
7:00 p.m., Cubberley Education Bldg, Room 133
In Search of the First Language (1994)
This hour-long video from the series "Nova" explores the common threads that
link the more than 5000 languages of the earth, including a controversial
theory that claims to reconstruct words from a time when only a handful of
languages were spoken, recalling the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.
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 SSP10
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, 20 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]
____________
SEMANTICS WORKSHOP
on Wednesday, 21 February
3:15 p.m., Cordura Hall, Room 104
Scope Ambiguities with Negative Quantifiers
Henriette de Swart
Stanford Linguistics
[deswart@csli.stanford.edu]
Jacobs (1980, 1991) and Rullmann (1995) argue that an adequate analysis of
German _kein_ `no' and Dutch _geen_ `no' requires lexical decomposition in
order to account for certain readings in which a scope-bearing operator such
as an intensional verb or a universal quantifier intervenes between the
negation and the existential quantifier part of the determiner. Examples are
(1) and (2), with the relevant split readings as paraphrased in (1') and (2'):
(1) Ze hoeven geen verpleegkundigen te ontslaan (Dutch)
They need no nurses to fired
(1') It is not necessary for them to fire any nurses
(2) Alle Artzte haven kein Auto (German)
All doctors have no car
(2') Not every doctor has a car
In this talk, I argue that lexical decomposition is not only undesirable, but
empirically incorrect. As an alternative, I use type-lifting principles to
develop a higher order interpretation of negative quantifiers. The analysis is
built on the general observation that split readings are restricted to
monotone decreasing NPs in predicative contexts.
____________
STASS SEMINAR
on Thursday, 22 February
10:00 a.m., Cordura Hall, Room 100
Barwise--Seligman Reading Group (cont'd)
Keith Devlin
CSLI & St.Mary's College
[devlin@csli.stanford.edu]
Having identified Chapter 5 as the key chapter, the group will meet for one
last time to discuss this book manuscript, in particular Chapter 5. Chapters
1 and 7 provide motivation for the theoretical development in Chapter 5, so we
will probably talk about those chapters as well. For new attendants, copies
of the manuscript are available from Eric Hammer at CSLI.
____________
CSLI COGLUNCH
on Thursday, 22 February
12:00 noon, Cordura Hall, Room 100
A Biological View of Consciousness and Intentionality
Walter Freeman
UC Berkeley Neurobiology
Experimental observations of the brain activity that follows sensory
stimulation of animals show that sensory cortices engage in construction of
activity patterns in response to stimuli. The operation is not that of
filter, retrieval, or correlation mechanisms. It is a state transition by
which a cortex switches abruptly from one basin of attraction to another,
thereby to change one spatial pattern to another like frames in a cinema. The
transitions in the primary sensory cortices are shaped by interactions with
the limbic system, which express the intentional nature of percepts. They
result from goal-directed actions in time and space. Each transition involves
learning, so that cumulatively a trajectory is formed by each brain over its
lifetime. Each spatial pattern as it occurs reflects the entire content of
individual experience. It is a meaning and not the representation of a
meaning. It is the basis for consciousness.
It follows that each brain creates its own frames of reference, which are not
directly accessible by any other brain. How, then, can two or more brains be
shaped by learning, so as to form cooperative pairs for reproduction and
groups for survival? Evolution has provided a biological mechanism that first
came under scientific scrutiny in the form of Pavlovian 'brain washing'.
Under now well known conditions of stress in the internal and external
environments, a global transition takes place, following which brains sustain
a remarkable period of malleability. I believe that Pavlov manipulated a
mammalian mechanism of pair bonding, for the nurture of altricial young
through sexual orgasm and lactation, mediated by oxytocin, and that our remote
ancestors evolved to adapt this mechanism for tribal bonding through dance,
chanting, rituals, and evangelical conversions (Sargant 1957, _Battle of the
Mind_). These dimensions of human experience can be encompassed by a theory
of neurodynamics, but not by theories of representation.
____________
SEMINAR ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
on Friday, 23 February
12:30 p.m., Skilling Auditorium
Space Craft: Perceptual Aids for Cognitive Activity
Kevin Mullet
Macromedia
[mullet@macromedia.com]
____________
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
on Friday, 23 February
3:15 p.m., Building 60, Room 61-G
A Discussion of Self-Deception:
Donald Davidson (UC Berkeley Philosophy),
with Jean-Pierre Dupuy (Stanford French & Italian),
and Ariela Lazar (Stanford Philosophy)
(Sponsored by the Philosophy Club, Stanford University)
Donald Davidson of UC Berkeley will present his views on the phenomenon of
self-deception, as exemplified in his "Deception and Division" and "Paradoxes
of Irrationality," for instance. Following Davidson's talk there will be a
panel discussion led by Jean-Pierre Dupuy of the Stanford French and Italian
Department and Ariela Lazar of the Stanford Philosophy Department, with time
for questions toward the end of the talks. All are invited to attend.
____________
LINGUISTICS DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
on Friday, 23 February
3:30 p.m., Building 460, Room 146
Title to be announced
Jane Grimshaw
Rutgers Linguistics
____________