Ecology of Mind
From CasGroup
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| - | The | + | The metaphor '''Ecology of Mind''' has been coined by Gregory Bateson, |
| + | for instance in his book "Steps to an ecology of mind". | ||
In the [[Society of Mind]] approach, we try to understand | In the [[Society of Mind]] approach, we try to understand | ||
the mind as a society, as a social group of interacting | the mind as a society, as a social group of interacting | ||
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* Individual | * Individual | ||
* Collective | * Collective | ||
| + | * Total | ||
* Flow | * Flow | ||
* Interaction | * Interaction | ||
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* Ecosystem | * Ecosystem | ||
* Species | * Species | ||
| - | * Ecological Community | + | * Populations |
| + | * Ecological Community | ||
* Energy flow | * Energy flow | ||
| - | * [[Food web]] | + | * [[Food web]] (Predator/Prey) |
| bgcolor="#cccccc" valign="top" | | | bgcolor="#cccccc" valign="top" | | ||
* Cognitive System | * Cognitive System | ||
* Agents | * Agents | ||
| + | * Agent population | ||
* Mind | * Mind | ||
* Information Flow | * Information Flow | ||
| - | * | + | * Information Web (Actions/Perceptions) |
| bgcolor="#88ccaa" valign="top" | | | bgcolor="#88ccaa" valign="top" | | ||
* Biological System | * Biological System | ||
* Neurons | * Neurons | ||
| - | |||
| - | |||
* Neural Assemblies | * Neural Assemblies | ||
| + | * Brain | ||
| + | * Information Flow | ||
| + | * Associations | ||
|} | |} | ||
Ecology is the study of the ecosystem and the environment as | Ecology is the study of the ecosystem and the environment as | ||
| - | it relates to living organisms. It tries to describe how | + | it relates to living organisms. It is the study of interactions |
| + | between organisms and their environment and tries to describe how | ||
living systems are connected. A large variety of species and | living systems are connected. A large variety of species and | ||
a huge network of interactions - a [[Food web|food web]] - is characteristic | a huge network of interactions - a [[Food web|food web]] - is characteristic | ||
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relating the individual with his society and his species | relating the individual with his society and his species | ||
and with the universe at large. | and with the universe at large. | ||
| + | |||
| + | While the key feature of an '''ecosystem''' is the transmission of energy | ||
| + | through its different components, the key feature of the '''mind''' is the | ||
| + | transmission of information through its different components. In the former | ||
| + | case, energy flows through the system, in the latter information (or electrical | ||
| + | energy). Instead of a food web we food have an information web | ||
| + | where information moves from perceptions to actions. | ||
| + | In this sense perceptions correspond to prey and actions to predators, respectively. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In the ecological pyramid, the trophic pyramid, there are different levels of consumers and producers, from primary producers at the bottom to secondary and tertiary consumers at the top. The brain is structured similarly in different levels of abstraction, from the primary sensory areas at the bottom to the secondary and tertiary areas and the prefrontal cortext at the top. | ||
== Books == | == Books == | ||
* Gregory Bateson, [http://books.google.com/books?id=Wfe2t_qzaHEC Steps to an Ecology of Mind], University Of Chicago Press, 1972 | * Gregory Bateson, [http://books.google.com/books?id=Wfe2t_qzaHEC Steps to an Ecology of Mind], University Of Chicago Press, 1972 | ||
