- From Bacteria to Bach and Back - Part 113 Atwell Ct, Potomac, MD
For our Summer book club we will read and talk about the first half of From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds by Daniel C. Dennett. The meeting is in-person and will be at the host's house in Potomac MD. Light snacks will be served.
In many ways, this is a summary of then Dennett's life work and explores the deep interactions of evolution, brains,cognition and human culture. It includes discussion of:
What is human consciousness and how is it possible?
To do this he buids a perspectives from his earlier work in surprising directions, "Part philosophical whodunit, part bold scientific conjecture, this landmark work enlarges themes that have sustained Dennett's legendary career at the forefront of philosophical thought."
We see no only Dennett's style, but his wit and insighful thought experiments.
" Dennett shows how culture enables reflection by installing a bounty of thinking tools, or memes, in our brains. Language, itself composed of memes, turbocharged this interplay. The result, a mind that can comprehend the questions it poses, emerges from a process of cultural evolution. "
The part one discussion will be lead by Cogntive Psychologist and WASH chapter leader Gary Berg-Cross.People may get a sense of the material from this video.
Chater 1 https://youtu.be/SwVGEg-kKKwMore of the range of thought in a talk at Google:
https://youtu.be/IZefk4gzQt4Topics in this discussion will include:
- What he mans by turning our world upside down.
- Introduction ; Before bacteria and Bach ;
- On the origin of reasons (in Biology and Philosophy) ;
- Two strange inversions of reasoning ;
- The evolution of understanding
- From evolution to intelligent design.
- What is information? ;
- Darwinian spaces: an interlude ;
- Brains made of brains
For people reading the book we would hope to cover up to about page 200.
Part I
TURNING OUR WORLD UPSIDE DOWN
1. Introduction
Welcome to the jungle 3
A bird's-eye view of the journey 6
The Cartesian wound 13
Cartesian gravity 16
2. Before Bacteria and Bach
Why Bach? 23
How investigating the prebiotic world is like playing chess 26
3. On the Origin of Reasons
The death or rebirth of teleology? 33
Different senses of "why" 38
The evolution of "why": from how come to what for 40
Go forth and multiply 434. Two Strange Inversions of Reasoning
How Darwin and Turing broke a spell S3
Ontology and the manifest image 60
Automating the elevator 63
The intelligent designers of Oak Ridge and GOFAI 70
5. The Evolution of Understanding
Animals designed to deal with affordances 76
Higher animals as intentional systems: the emergence
of comprehension 84
Comprehension comes in degrees 94
Pa rt II
FROM EVOLUTION TO
INTELLIGENT DESIGN
6. What Is Information?
Welcome to the Information Age 105
How can we characterize semantic information? 113
Trade secrets, patents, copyright. and Bird's influence
on bebop 128
7. Darwinian Spaces: An Interlude
A new tool for thinking about evolution 137
Cultural evolution: inverting a Darwinian Space 146
8. Brains Made of Brains
Top-down computers and bottom-up brains 150
Competition and coalition in the brain 154
Neurons, mules, and termites 160
How do brains pick up affordances? 165
Feral neurons? 171
9. The Role of Words in Cultural Evolution
The evolution of words 176
Looking more closely at words 182
How do words reproduce? 190 to about 200
