The model as presented on the last page is close to completion in terms of primary functions, but there remains one issue on which everything rests, both philosophically and computationally; the ontology of the system. We have used the concept of a function, an algorithm, called Interpretation to explain the basic processes of every part of the model of Dasein, but not yet described how the function itself operates. But seeking to answer this question we shall show how Dasein is ontological and creates its own semantic system. So far, we know that Interpretation is...
Ontological Regulation of Being-in-the-World Being evolutionarily the oldest and most simple part of the system of Dasein, Entity Interpretation is necessarily simple and self-contained. By returning briefly to the philosophical conception of Entities and their definition, it is easy to see how such a system may arise within Dasein. "Entities are, quite independently of the experience by which they are disclosed, the acquaintance in which they are discovered, and the grasping in which their nature is ascertained." Being and Time, H.183 By the "acquaintance in which they are discovered", Heidegger means that the interrelations of the Entities are all the meaning they possess. An individual with no context has no meaning, yet it can gain meaning simply by being part of an interrelated network, or part of a material as the Stoics might conceive. Thus, all an Entity is, is a node within a network. Neural networks have been computationally developed for many years now, and are based upon the biological principle of Hebbian modifications. Proposed by Donald Hebb in 1949, this simple idea is summed up as; "neurons that fire together, wire together". If two connected neurons are activated at the same time then they are given to strengthening the connections between themselves such that should one be independently activated at a later time, it becomes more likely the signal will be propagated to the other. In this diagram, we can see in the starting set of Entities that interconnections may be weak, few, perhaps nonexistent, or perhaps numerous; it simply doesn't matter what the starting connections are, the information held within their initial states is external to function of Dasein, since it comes from its construction, so cannot be ontological in any way. All that is required is that the set of Entities is provided with a stream of data from the World, and that some form of Hebbian modification be intrinsic in their functionality. Gradually, relataive data of the World becomes represented as the relative interconnections of the basic functional unit within the set. We say the "basic functional unit"; it may be a single neuron or a collection of thousands, this remains a task for neurobiology to ascertain. The most likely candidates for an Entity unit, or collection of related Entities, within the human brain are neo-cortical columns, NCCs, as investigated by the Blue Brain project. One should understand, however, that the number of neurons involved only serves to increase the accuracy of the system in discriminating Entities within the Things of the World. Even a single node, a single neuron, could be representative of a person; of course the activation of that node has absolutely no meaning to any observer, could we open up and look inside the instance in real time, its meaning is entirely dependent on the connections that node makes with other nodes in the instance, and so forth, back down to the sensory data and thus the Real interrelations of the World that is being detected by Dasein. Without the World, there can be no Being-in-the-World.  The function of Anticipation brings Temporality to Dasein, and it is the regulation of this Interpretation that provides the ontology of Temporality. Now whilst Hebbian modifications may play some part in the regulation of frontal cortical structures in practice, they do not provide the logical framework for the Temporality we seek, instead the principle of Making Present, introduced near the start of the inquiry, must be brought to bear. The Making Present, as explained before in general terms, brings the Potentiality-for-Being "back into" the present through two functions; an Interpretation of the quality of the Potentiality, and checking the Potentiality alongside the Entity Now to see if it is fulfilled or unfulfilled. Both Interpretations are comparison Interpretations. This diagram shows the basic, digital, logic paths available to the two-Interpretation system. They are digital because they take all-or-nothing cases, whereas in practice a more graduated, analogue result shall be produced, yet the logic is the same.  The second gate is a comparison Interpretation of the "held" Potentiality with a temporally correspondent Entity Now. The closer the Potentiality matches the Entity Now, the closer to "Fulfilled" it is, the further away they are, the more "Unfulfilled" the Potentiality is. However, as the diagram indicates, Unfulfilled is not necessarily "incorrect", for in the (O,O) path, the Potentiality is "expected" to be poor, and the declarative memories are thus verified if the Potentiality is subsequently Unfulfilled. It is important to note that it is at this point that Temporality is introduced into the system: Each Potentiality-for-Being is necessarily about Entities a certain time within the future of the World, so each Potentiality needs to be temporarily stored within Dasein until such a time as it is supposed to represent comes around. The following diagram represents this system within the general model:  Temporal Feedback As feedback relates to both the biological and theoretical models, and as our ontology of Being-in-the-World and Interpretation is already based upon a system of interrelated nodes of varying strength, Temporal feedback can take the form of promotion of change, or promotion of stability; the relative weakening or strengthening of inter-Entity connections within the region of Interpretation concerned. To understand which feedback is pertinent within each of the results from the above logic table, it shall help to look at each path as a common, everyday thought process. (O,O) Improbable, Unfulfilled Declarative memory finds the Anticipation to be beyond previous experience, and sensory information does not report such an Entity. Within a mature instance of Dasein, this class of Anticipation is what is commonly referred to as "imagination". Any time Dasein envisages a situation that does not come to pass, at least within the immediate present, the instance is indulging in hypothetical Interpretation it "knows" to be improbable. However, such Interpretation is reinforced through feedback, for if correctly improbable, then it is an accurate representation of the World. Anticipation is reinforced. (I,I) Probable, Fulfilled Declarative memory finds the Anticipation to be within previous experience, and this is corroborated by sensory information. Within a mature instance of Dasein, this is the normal state of operation within a familiar environment, when the instance is engaging in routine activities. The epitome of the "positive" Anticipation, Dasein has correctly Anticipated the World, practically and evolutionarily the most productive and useful of Interpretations. Anticipation is (strongly) reinforced. (O,1) Improbable, Fulfilled Declarative memory finds the Anticipation to be beyond previous experience, but sensory information subsequently verifies the Anticipation as an event within the World Now. (I,O) Probable, Unfulfilled Declarative memory finds the Anticipation to be within previous experience, but sensory information does not report this Entity as an event within the World Now. Within a mature instance of Dasein, both of these situations could be due to one of two possible scenarios. The Entity Interpretation may have made an identification mistake, the Anticipation working from this arrived at an unrealistic conclusion. Or the Anticipation was subject to "over"- or "under"-thinking through the situation and arrived at a Potentiality that though incorrect nevertheless matched another Entity within declarative memory given the situation. In either case, Dasein has made an error in Anticipation because of a faith, a confidence in its own experiences, its own memories; if the Potentiality is of a distant future then Dasein has the possibility of "rethinking" until, perhaps, a more sound Potentiality is arrived at, else the error of the Potentiality is made clear in the arrival of the concerned Entity Now. Anticipation is changed. Temporal Ontology Finally, we must come to understand how this system is ontological, how the changes applied to the Anticipatory Interpretations means that the Entities they produce come to represent a Potentiality-for-Being. There are three distinct properties of the system that support the ontology. a) The Being-in-the-World of the Entities is the foundation on which all Anticipations are based. The Temporal Interpretations, Anticipation and the Making-Present, use as their basic units of Entity states the Entity Nows passed to them from the derivative Entity Interpretations. As with all Interpretations, what is produced is a synthesis, information is continually being added to the system. So when Anticipation and the Making-Present take Entity Now states, they build upon and add to those states the predictive information of Temporality stored within their own structures... b) The delay in the Making-Present, coupled with the negative feedback, "pushes" the Anticipations into producing Entity states that come to represent what the delayed Entity Now commonly represents. c) The declarative memory of previous events, both Entity Nows and Potentialities-for-Being, both short and long term, enables the delayed Making-Present, and stablises the changes to Anticipatory Interpretations by providing a benchmark; the probability of experience. In simply promoting the agreement of one filter, the Anticipation filter, with the results of comparisons of other filters and their data sets, the function of Anticipation is created, along with its Entity data set, Potentialities-for-Being. Conclusion What is effected in the feedback is a promotion of inter-Entity connection/weighting change. In its function and effect, this is most similar, and perhaps helpful to think of it as like, the relationship between mutation, natural selection and evolution. Mutation is random, but natural selection, the emergent function of fitter replicators surviving and weaker replicators dying (failing to produce viable offspring), gives the mutation a direction, a "purpose" it fulfils blindly. So too within this system, the changes that occur may be random in nature, perhaps in part guided by Hebbian modifications, but what guides these collective changes to produce an Interpretative filter that truly comes to Anticipates future Entities is the feedback promoting realistic Potentialities and changing things when they are mistaken. Most importantly of all, this system is entirely self contained. The meaning of the Entities, the semantics, their ontological origin, the manner in which Interpretations are guided and develop - none of this has been imposed upon the instance from outside, from the They. All meaning of the Entities, whether it is an Entity Now or a Potentiality-for-Being, is a product of the functions of Dasein and private to Dasein. "Dasein is an entity which does not just occur among other entities. ... Dasein is ontically distinctive in that it is ontological." Being and Time, H.12 Summary
Created 4th March 2009 Revised 31st July 2009 |