Spare me the complements: an immoderate proposal for eliminating the "we/they" category boundary
Spare me the complements: an immoderate proposal for eliminating the "we/they" category boundary
A speculative hypothesis about how to eliminate the "we/they" distinction by rearing children (during early critical years) in "aggregates in flux" instead of in kinship-based families: A category cannot be formed from positive examples only: one must be able to sample both what is and what is not in a category in order to recognise the category at all. The basis for the distinction is the features shared by the members (invariants), and absent from the non-members. In "aggregates in flux," the individual members would be constantly varying (and unrelated, genetically). The only invariant would be that they are all human.
category learning, uncomplemented categories, early experience, socialization, critical period, ethnocentrism, we/they distinction
Harnad, Stevan
442ee520-71a1-4283-8e01-106693487d8b
17 July 2004
Harnad, Stevan
442ee520-71a1-4283-8e01-106693487d8b
Harnad, Stevan
(2004)
Spare me the complements: an immoderate proposal for eliminating the "we/they" category boundary.
The Social Brain. Biology of conflicts and cooperation World Forum of Cultures: From Conflict to Cooperation, , Barcelona, Spain.
17 - 20 Jul 2004.
8 pp
.
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Conference or Workshop Item
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Abstract
A speculative hypothesis about how to eliminate the "we/they" distinction by rearing children (during early critical years) in "aggregates in flux" instead of in kinship-based families: A category cannot be formed from positive examples only: one must be able to sample both what is and what is not in a category in order to recognise the category at all. The basis for the distinction is the features shared by the members (invariants), and absent from the non-members. In "aggregates in flux," the individual members would be constantly varying (and unrelated, genetically). The only invariant would be that they are all human.
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Published date: 17 July 2004
Additional Information:
Presented at: The Social Brain. Biology of conflicts and cooperation World Forum of Cultures: From Conflict to Cooperation. Proposals from the Cognitive Sciences. Barcelona. 17-20 July 2004. http://www.barcelona2004.org/eng/banco_del_conocimiento/dialogos/ficha.cfm?idEvento=164 To appear in: Villaroya, O & Valencia, L. (Eds.)
Venue - Dates:
The Social Brain. Biology of conflicts and cooperation World Forum of Cultures: From Conflict to Cooperation, , Barcelona, Spain, 2004-07-17 - 2004-07-20
Keywords:
category learning, uncomplemented categories, early experience, socialization, critical period, ethnocentrism, we/they distinction
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 260702
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/260702
PURE UUID: 63d723e7-689e-4297-b4e3-5923b5904cea
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Date deposited: 29 Mar 2005
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:40
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Author:
Stevan Harnad
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