祿
取之無窮之井水，享用不盡的福氣。
《説文解字》：祿，福也。从示彔聲。
《清明》 唐‧杜牧
清明時節雨紛紛，
路上行人欲斷魂。
借問酒家何處有？
牧童遙指杏花村。
對『認知』 cognition 的『再次』 re- 之『認知』 cognition 就是『辨識』 re-cognition 。在一篇名為《 Dynamic Causal Models and Autopoietic Systems 》的摘要裡︰
ABSTRACT
Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) and the theory of autopoietic systems are two important conceptual frameworks. In this review, we suggest that they can be combined to answer important questions about self-organising systems 【自組織系統】like the brain. DCM has been developed recently by the neuroimaging 【神經成像】community to explain, using biophysical models, the non-invasive brain imaging data are caused by neural processes. It allows one to ask mechanistic questions about the implementation of cerebral processes. In DCM the parameters of biophysical models are estimated from measured data and the evidence for each model is evaluated. This enables one to test different functional hypotheses (i.e., models) for a given data set. Autopoiesis and related formal theories of biological systems as autonomous machines represent a body of concepts with many successful applications. However, autopoiesis has remained largely theoretical and has not penetrated the empiricism 【經驗論】of cognitive neuroscience. In this review, we try to show the connections that exist between DCM and autopoiesis. In particular, we propose a simple modification to standard formulations of DCM that includes autonomous processes. The idea is to exploit the machinery of the system identification of DCMs in neuroimaging to test the face validity of the autopoietic theory applied to neural subsystems. We illustrate the theoretical concepts and their implications for interpreting electroencephalographic 【腦電圖】signals acquired during amygdala 【杏仁核】stimulation in an epileptic 【癲癇】patient. The results suggest that DCM represents a relevant biophysical approach to brain functional organisation, with a potential that is yet to be fully evaluated.
Key terms: Dynamic Causal Modelling, brain functional organization, plasticity, autonomous systems, autopoiesis.
說明了這篇論文的內容。人們的目光開始轉向『既古又新』之現象『徵候系統』。
左手畫出正畫出左手的右手
右手完成將完成右手之左手
生命機器
Autopoietic Systems
圖靈機
在計算機科學的領域裡，自然也有人專注於『自生自成機器』應當如何建立『形式理論』 formal theory？這個機器可以用『圖靈機』來『模擬』的嗎？就像這篇《 Towards Autopoietic Computing 》文章所說的︰ A key challenge in modern computing is to develop systems that address complex, dynamic problems in a scalable and efficient way, because the increasing complexity of software makes designing and maintaining efficient and flexible systems increasingly difficult. Biological systems are thought to possess robust, scalable processing paradigms that can automatically manage complex, dynamic problem spaces, possessing several properties that may be useful in computer systems. The biological properties of self-organisation, self-replication, self-management, and scalability are addressed in an interesting way by autopoiesis, a descriptive theory of the cell founded on the concept of a system’s circular organisation to define its boundary with its environment. In this paper, therefore, we review the main concepts of autopoiesis and then discuss how they could be related to fundamental concepts and theories of computation. The paper is conceptual in nature and the emphasis is on the review of other people’s work in this area as part of a longer-term strategy to develop a formal theory of autopoietic computing.
在此僅摘要兩小段，略窺『自我生成』之『計算』的旨趣︰
1 Introduction
Natural systems provide unique examples of computation, in a form very different from contemporary computer architectures. Biology also demonstrates capabilities such as adaptation, self-repair and self-organisation that are becoming increasingly desirable for our technology [1]. Autopoietic systems (auto = self and poiesis = generating or producing) as a theoretical construct on the nature of living systems centre on two main notions: that of the circular organisation of metabolism and a redefinition of the systemic concepts of structure and organisation. This theoretical construct has found an important place in theoretical biology, but it could also be used as a foundation for a new type of computing. We provide a summary of autopoietic theory, before discussing the development
of autopoietic computation [17]. …
3.2 Computability
Autopoietic systems are intrinsically different from Turing machines, the structure of which is shown in Figure 3. They cannot be simulated by Turing machines as they are not Turing-computable, for the following reason. The self-referential nature of circularity that characterises autopoietic systems leads to the dynamic creation of an unpredictable number of states. According to [29, 30, 18], the dynamic creation of an unpredictable number of new states implies that no upper bound can be placed on the number of states required. As the Church definition of computability assumes that the basic operations of a system must be finite, e.g. recursive, the Church-Turing thesis7 cannot be applied. Hence, autopoietic systems are non-Turing-computable This is difficult to prove using only the elements of autopoietic theory [23, 22], but it is claimed [18] to flow trivially from the inclusion of autopoietic systems in (M,R) systems.8 The non-computability of autopoietic systems [16, 3] suggests (yet to be proven) that some intrinsic and fundamental part of their behaviour escapes our standard analysis based on phase states and/or evolution equations.
……
作者曾經設想︰
過去在《CPU 機器語言的『解譯器』》一文中談到過 Charles H. Moore 先生的 Forth 語言，這個語言提供了基本的意義『符號』，可以用來定義自己的『字』，再用自己的字組成自己的『詞』，然後用這些字詞寫自己的文章！這或許是深入理解『套套』語言很好的入門。作者曾想著或可強稱之為『Forth 之環』之串串成『環』的字詞，能讓最高的字詞就是最初的符號，不知是行不行呢？？
當然終究有人落在『生命』之『意義的起源』的探討︰
陈巍,郭本禹
南京师范大学心理学系,南京,210097
Email:anti-monist@163.com; antimonist@yahoo.cn
摘 要:弗朗西斯科·瓦雷拉是智利著名认知科学家。20 世纪 70 年代初他与亨伯特·马图拉纳提出了著名的自创生理论。通过回溯并分析自创生理论的由来、内涵与证据,揭示了该理论的精髓:“生命系统是自创生的”、“活着即是认知”与“活着即是意义的生成”,并考察了其在认识生命本质与运作规律、区分生命系统与非生命系统、推动认知科学发展等方面的意义。
关键词:瓦雷拉;生命系统;自创生;活着即是认知;活着即是意义的生成
《 Life’s Autopoiesis: Cognitive Scientist Francisco Varela 》
Wei Chen, Benyu Guo
Psychology Department, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing
Email:anti-monist@163.com; antimonist@yahoo.cn
Abstract: Francisco Varela is a famous Chilean cognitive scientist. In the early 1970’s, Varela and Humberto R. Maturana cosponsored the famous “theory of autopoiesis”. This paper, based on the retrospection and analyzing of the origin, connotation and relevant evidence of the theory of autopoiesis, revealed its essence: “living system is autopoietic”, “living is cognition” and “living is sense- making”, and also appreciated the significance of theory of autopoiesis on realizing the essence of life, division of living system and non-living system, as well as driving the development of cognitive science.
Keywords: Varela; Living System; Autopoiesis; Living is Cognition; Living is Sense-making
想對『自生自成系統』有更『全面認識』的讀者，可以下載閱讀。
當看到眾多的研究嘗試進入複雜的『生命系統』，或許是因為科技的進步、量測設備的發展、計算能力的提昇，以及資訊系統的躍升種種之匯聚，使得之前『不能』或者『很難』研究的現象，得以進行探討。更重要的是『新概念』的提出，和『好奇心』的驅使
《【Sonic π】電聲學導引《三》》 所言之發明『壁虎膠』︰
一般說『壁虎』能夠『爬牆』，大概是沒有什麼稀奇的吧！假使問『為什麼』壁虎能夠爬牆的呢？如果偶然間你看到一隻壁虎，它竟然可以用『一根腳趾頭』就掛在『玻璃門』上，你是否會感到驚訝的呢？？也許可以說科學很大的一部分的發展來自於『好奇心』，大自然裡許多的現象或許『太常見』也就覺得沒什麼『好奇怪』的，這樣或許就和許多可能的『發現』失之交臂的了！！
有科學家對『壁虎腳』產生了興趣，經過仔細的研究後發現，壁虎的『黏附』 Adhesion 能力主要來自於它的『腳』與物體『表面』的『范德瓦耳斯力』，另一個重要的因素是自然中物體的『表面』由於空氣中的水蒸氣，多半會形成很薄近乎單層的『水膜』。這個水膜加強了壁虎的在各種物體表面上黏附力。果真壁虎是自然中天生的『攀爬』專家，又能夠得到環境助力無往不利！！
宛如所有的『追求者』都會『發現』『讀法』，然而一切之『享用者』總是『一知』『半解』。
□︰自然要是沒有『手冊』，了解它怕要花上千千萬萬年吧？？
○︰要是果真有『說明書』的話，怕是一點認識的機會也沒有了！！