The CSE Department's iLab Colloquium Series presents Dr. Newton Howard on November 1 from 4 - 5 p.m. in Avery 115.
Abstract:
Dr. Howard theorizes that a Fundamental Code Unit (FCU) permeates the underlying workings of both the mind and brain's linguistic and communications systems, respectively. In this way, both the mind and brain maintain schematics and axiomatic coding substrates similar to these founding DNA. Rconciling the paradox presented by the mind/brain duality concept promises to provide insight into several important phenomena, such as the location and composition of memories, as well as how they fit into the structure of the conscious mind, offers a novel method of modeling human cognition that seeks low-level, indivisible components with which to construct human thought. In particular, the Fundamental Code Unit (FCU) is a blue-print for the construction of conscious thought, much in the same way that DNA is a blueprint for the proteins that drive biological processes. The FCU corresponds not only to the linguistic and behavioral output that results from cognition, but bridges the analytical gap between them and physical processes within the brain. In order to properly apply FCU to cognition, this work argues that it is best to view the brain as a linguistic computational engine, using a topological rather than binary process for information analysis. It further proposes a unitary system, applicable for mathematical analysis on multiple levels. We use these tools to map out the process of cognition at each of these levels. This new approach to modeling brain function promises new insight to the apparent paradox of the brain's ability to consume low amounts of energy while generating high cognitive output. The concept of mind-brain duality argues that the mind is fundamentally different from the brain in the way it functions and operates.
Dr. Howard is an international executive, former director of the MIT Mind Machine Project, current director of the MIT Synthetic Intelligence Lab and founder of the Brain Sciences Foundation. He received his Doctoral degree in Cognitive Informatics and Mathematics from La Sorbonne, France where he was also awarded the Habilitation a Diriger des Recherches for his leading work on the Physics of Cognition (PoC) and its applications to complex medical, economical and security equilibriums. While a graduate member of the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Oxford, England, he proposed the Theory of Intention Awareness (IA), which made a signficant impact on the design of command & control systems and information exchange systems at tactical operational and strategic levels. Dr. Howard recently founded a scientific journal that focuses on multidisciplinary cognitive research, and is preparing several publications on the evolving state of Artificial Intelligence study.