How the Body Shapes the Way We Think

by Pfeifer, Rolf; Bongard, Josh; Brooks, Rodney; Iwasaka, Shun; Grand, Simon (CON)

• ISBN13: 9780262162395
• ISBN10: 0262162393
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-11-01
• Publisher: MIT PRESS

Summary

How could the body influence our thinking when it seems obvious that the brain controls the body? In How the Body Shapes the Way We Think, Rolf Pfeifer and Josh Bongard demonstrate that thought is not independent of the body but is tightly constrained, and at the same time enabled, by it. They argue that the kinds of thoughts we are capable of have their foundation in our embodiment-in our morphology and the material properties of our bodies. This crucial notion of embodiment underlies fundamental changes in the field of artificial intelligence over the past two decades, and Pfeifer and Bongard use the basic methodology of artificial intelligence-"understanding by building"-to describe their insights. If we understand how to design and build intelligent systems, they reason, we will better understand intelligence in general. In accessible, nontechnical language, and using many examples, they introduce the basic concepts by building on recent developments in robotics, biology, neuroscience, and psychology to outline a possible theory of intelligence. They illustrate applications of such a theory in ubiquitous computing, business and management, and the psychology of human memory. Embodied intelligence, as described by Pfeifer and Bongard, has important implications for our understanding of both natural and artificial intelligence.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Rodney Brooks	xiii
Preface	xvii
I Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Embodiment, and What the Book Is About	1	(56)
1 Intelligence, Thinking, and Artificial Intelligence	5	(20)
1.1 Thinking, Cognition, and Intelligence	7	(4)
1.2 The Mystery of Intelligence	11	(3)
1.3 Defining Intelligence	14	(3)
1.4 Artificial Intelligence	17	(1)
1.5 Embodiment and Its Implications	18	(4)
1.6 Summary	22	(3)
2 Artificial Intelligence: The Landscape	25	(32)
2.1 Successes of the Classical Approach	27	(3)
2.2 Problems of the Classical Approach	30	(4)
2.3 The Embodied Turn	34	(3)
2.4 The Role of Neuroscience	37	(2)
2.5 Diversification	39	(2)
2.6 Biorobotics	41	(3)
2.7 Developmental Robotics	44	(3)
2.8 Ubiquitous Computing and Interfacing Technology	47	(2)
2.9 Artificial Life and Multiagent Systems	49	(4)
2.10 Evolutionary Robotics	53	(1)
2.11 Summary	54	(3)
II Toward a Theory of Intelligence	57	(188)
3 Prerequisites for a Theory of Intelligence	61	(28)
3.1 Level of Generality and Form of Theory	62	(5)
3.2 Diversity-Compliance	67	(5)
3.3 Frame of Reference	72	(5)
3.4 The Synthetic Methodology	77	(5)
3.5 Time Perspectives	82	(3)
3.6 Emergence	85	(3)
3.7 Summary	88	(1)
4 Intelligent Systems: Properties and Principles	89	(52)
4.1 Real Worlds and Virtual Worlds	90	(5)
4.2 Properties of Complete Agents	95	(5)
4.3 Agent Design Principle 1: The Three-Constituents Principle	100	(4)
4.4 Agent Design Principle 2: The Complete-Agent Principle	104	(3)
4.5 Agent Design Principle 3: Cheap Design	107	(6)
4.6 Agent Design Principle 4: Redundancy	113	(4)
4.7 Agent Design Principle 5: Sensory-Motor Coordination	117	(6)
4.8 Agent Design Principle 6: Ecological Balance	123	(11)
4.9 Agent Design Principle 7: Parallel, Loosely Coupled Processes	134	(3)
4.10 Agent Design Principle 8: Value	137	(3)
4.11 Summary and Conclusions	140	(1)
5 Development: From Locomotion to Cognition	141	(36)
5.1 Motivation	143	(2)
5.2 Toward Developmental Robot Design	145	(4)
5.3 From Locomotion to Cognition: A Case Study	149	(4)
5.4 From Gait Patterns to Body Image to Cognition	153	(6)
5.5 The Symbol Grounding Problem	159	(2)
5.6 Matching Brain and Body Dynamics	161	(3)
5.7 Broadening the Scope: Other Aspects of Development	164	(4)
5.8 Learning in Embodied Systems	168	(2)
5.9 Social Interaction	170	(3)
5.10 Development: Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here?	173	(2)
5.11 Summary: Design Principles for Developmental Systems	175	(2)
6 Evolution: Cognition from Scratch	177	(36)
6.1 Motivation	181	(3)
6.2 The Basics of Evolutionary Computation	184	(3)
6.3 The Origins of Evolutionary Computation	187	(2)
6.4 Artificial Evolution in the Real World: On Pipes, Antennas, and Electronic Circuits	189	(3)
6.5 Evolutionary Robotics	192	(2)
6.6 Evolving Morphology and Control	194	(2)
6.7 Genetic Regulatory Networks and Developmental Plasticity	196	(8)
6.8 Self-Organization: The Powerful Ally of Mutation and Selection	204	(2)
6.9 Artificial Evolution: Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here?	206	(2)
6.10 Summary: Design Principles for Evolutionary Systems	208	(5)
7 Collective Intelligence: Cognition from Interaction	213	(32)
7.1 Motivation	215	(2)
7.2 Agent-Based Modeling	217	(4)
7.3 Simulation versus Real Robots	221	(1)
7.4 Groups of Robots	222	(4)
7.5 A Note on Cooperation	226	(2)
7.6 Modular Robots	228	(4)
7.7 Scalability, Self-Assembly, Self-Repair, Homogeneity, and Heterogeneity	232	(3)
7.8 Self-Reproducing Machines	235	(3)
7.9 Collective Intelligence: Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here?	238	(3)
7.10 Summary: Design Principles for Collective Systems	241	(4)
III Applications and Case Studies	245	(106)
8 Ubiquitous Computing and Interfacing Technology	249	(22)
8.1 Ubiquitous Technology as Scaffolding	251	(2)
8.2 Ubiquitous Technology: Properties and Principles	253	(10)
8.3 Interacting with Ubiquitous Technology	263	(1)
8.4 Cyborgs	264	(6)
8.5 Summary and Conclusions	270	(1)
9 Building Intelligent Companies	271	(24)
9.1 Management and Entrepreneurship: Decision and Action under Uncertainty	272	(2)
9.2 Companies as Embodied Systems	274	(5)
9.3 A Synthetic Approach to Management	279	(3)
9.4 Design Principles for Building Intelligent Companies	282	(11)
9.5 Corroborating the Speculations	293	(1)
9.6 Summary and Conclusions	294	(1)
10 Where Is Human Memory?	295	(28)
10.1 Introduction	298	(2)
10.2 The Storehouse Metaphor and Its Problems	300	(2)
10.3 Concepts of Memory	302	(2)
10.4 The Frame-of-Reference Problem in Memory Research: Ashby's Proposal	304	(3)
10.5 The Embodied View of Memory: Applying the Design Principles for Intelligent Systems	307	(11)
10.6 Implications for Memory Research: Summary and Speculations	318	(5)
11 Robotic Technology in Everyday Life	323	(28)
11.1 Introduction: Everyday Robots	324	(3)
11.2 Vacuum Cleaners: Roomba, Trilobite, and Similar Species	327	(1)
11.3 Entertainment Robots	328	(5)
11.4 Therapeutic, Medical, and Rescue Robots	333	(2)
11.5 Humanoid Companion Robots	335	(6)
11.6 Robots Capable of Social Communication	341	(3)
11.7 Robots Capable of Facial and Bodily Expression	344	(2)
11.8 A Theoretical Note	346	(2)
11.9 Summary and Conclusions	348	(3)
IV Principles and Insights	351	(22)
12 How the Body Shapes the Way We Think	353	(20)
12.1 Steps Toward a Theory of Intelligence	354	(4)
12.2 Selected Highlights	358	(9)
12.3 Seeing Things Differently	367	(3)
12.4 Epilogue	370	(3)
Notes	373	(2)
References	375	(14)
Index	389