A THOUSAND NARRATIVES. THEORY OF MEMETIC EVOLUTION. PART 1/20. INTRO
The ultimate goal of this line of research is to gain a better understanding of
how human value system operates. The problem I see regarding current approaches
to studying values is that we cannot study {values/desires/preferences} in
isolation from the rest of cognitive mechanisms, cause according to latest
theories values are just a part of a broader system governing behaviour in
general. With that you have to have a decent model of human behaviour first to
then be able to explain value dynamics.
To get a good theory of the mind you have to meet multiple requirements:
1. A good theory of the mind must span at least four different timescales:
(genetic evolution) for the billion years in which our brains have evolved;
(memetic evolution) for the centuries of cultural accumulation of ideas
through history; (personal) for the individual development during lifetime;
and (neuronal) milliseconds during which cognitive inference happens.
2. A good theory must explain behaviour of the system on each of Marr’s three
levels of analysis[1]: (1) the computational problem the system is solving;
(2) the algorithm the system uses to solve that problem; and (3) how that
algorithm is implemented in the “physical hardware” of the system. And, the
part I think Marr is missing, the third level also has to include
explanation of how the learning environment affects agent
[https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RCbofC8fCJ6NnYti7/intro-to-ontogenetic-curriculum].
3. A good theory must at least make an attempt at answering the main questions:
how is the generality of intelligence achieved?; what is the neural
substrate of memory?; etc.
To meet these requirements I’ve combined insights from several fields:
Developmental Psychology, Neuroscience, Ethology and Computation models of mind.
The result is the Narrative Theory. The research is still far from completion
but there ar