Computation and Human Experience

by Philip E. Agre

Overview

This book offers a critical reconstruction of the fundamental ideas and methods in artificial intelligence (AI) research. By paying close attention to the metaphors of AI and their consequences for the field's patterns of success and failure, it argues for a reorientation of the field away from thought and toward activity. By considering computational ideas in a large, philosophical framework, the author eases critical dialogue between technology and the social sciences. AI can benefit from an understanding of the field in relation to human nature, and in return, it offers a powerful mode of investigation into the practicalities of physical realization. Researchers in AI and cognitive science will welcome this timely discussion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521386036
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/28/1997
Series:	Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.87(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Metaphor in practice; 3. Machinery and dynamics; 4. Abstraction and implementation in cognitive science; 5. The digital abstraction; 6. Dependency maintenance; 7. Rule system; 8. Planning and improvisation; 9. Running arguments; 10. Experiments with running arguments; 11. Representation and indexicality; 12. Deictic representation.

Editorial Reviews

'… [an] excellently produced book … extremely informative, easily readable and good value for money.' Palass Newsletter

'With America's Energy Gamble, public policy expert Shanti Gamper-Rabindran lays out a stark case that powerful oil and gas interests have, with considerable help from the outgoing Trump administration, gained control of the lever arms of our energy and environmental policy apparatus. Our economic competitiveness, the health of our environment, and the livability of our planet are all now threatened. Read this book to be informed about the threat and armed with the knowledge of what can be done in the Biden era to undo the damage and right the course.' Michael E. Mann, Penn State University and author of The New Climate War

'America's Energy Gamble deserves a wide audience. It makes two important contributions to our understanding of the Trump era. As the first book-length treatment of Trump's aggressive environmental deregulation, it thoroughly exposes the tenuous moorings of that campaign, including its shaky connection to its economic goals. Equally importantly, it reveals the affirmative side of Trump's agenda: not just opposition to business regulation of every kind (though that was a factor), but the vision of fossil fuels as a route to national prosperity.' Dan Farber, University of California, Berkeley; author of Contested Ground: How to Understand the Limits on Presidential Power

'In detailing the actions and consequences of four years of the Trump Administration, Professor Gamper-Rabindran has wisely focused in on one important sector: US oil and gas. Her target audience is both scholars and the informed public, a target she has reached admirably, despite the difficulties in avoiding appearing partisan. Her writing is very readable, well-documented, comprehensive and enlightening.' Charles D. Kolstad, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

'All students of Biblical Hebrew will benefit from a better grasp of the Hebrew accents, and Park deserves thanks for providing a helpful tool to that end. Instructors should seriously consider requiring this book in intermediate to advanced courses.' Douglas Smith, Journal of Language, Culture, and Religion

'This is a wonderful and much needed book by leaders in the field of perinatal mental health. Until recently perinatal anxiety has been a neglected area. This is despite the fact that one in five will suffer from one or more anxiety or anxiety-related condition during the perinatal period. Although our understanding of perinatal anxiety has increased, few evidence-based self-help books have been published. This book provides state-of-the art, evidence-based recommendations for overcoming anxiety during the perinatal period. It is sophisticated but easy to read and follow. I am very impressed by this book and will definitely recommend it to my clients.' Nichole Fairbrother, PhD, RPsych, CACBT-ACTCC Certified Cognitive Behaviour Therapist and Founding Member, Clinical Associate Professor and MSFHR Health Professional-Investigator, University of British Columbia, Victoria

'Bowers is rigorous in his historical and political contextualization, yet it is through his meticulous close readings, mastery of poetic forms, metre, and styles, as well as his ear to linguistic allusions, coupled with eye-opening archival discoveries, that new complexities of radical Anglo-Italian interactions emerge, and unexpected conversations between texts and contexts come to light for the first time … The field of Anglo–Italian scholarship has traditionally been prone to a heavy reliance on biographical or political readings of texts; on the contrary, Bowers's rigorous formal analysis and technical brilliance, grounded in archival research and historical accuracy, set refreshingly new standards, both in Anglo–Italian studies and in Romanticism at large.' Elisa Cozzi, The Keats-Shelley Review

'Magesterial.' New Scientist

From the Publisher