Mentalese and Higher Order Linguistic Processing
Could you expand on "Mentalese"? I assume this is a "language of thought" approach, but I'm not sure if you're referring to a specific one?
Mentalese
Wikipedia: The language of thought hypothesis, sometimes known as thought ordered mental expression, is a view in linguistics, philosophy of mind and cognitive science, forwarded by American philosopher Jerry Fodor. It describes the nature of thought as possessing "language-like" or compositional structure.Steven Pinker: The hypothetical language of thought, or representation of concepts and propositions in the brain, in which ideas, including the meanings of words and sentences, are couched.The above conform to the fashionable perspective on a definition for Mentalese. In my opinion, as long as they include reference to words, language, and sentences, they go too far. If they were to substitute
Mode of internal communications for language and
Impulse as a mode of expression, I'd buy into it.
I see Mentalese as arising from primitive architectural predispositions that exist as cognitive reflexes. Quite a lot of intelligence can be embodied in certain types of architectural features. Features like gradient detectors together with summing top-down with bottom up comparisons that yield discrimination as a byproduct. The deterministic allocation of neural resources for the collection and retention of gradient/comparison products (LTMs) can endow an AI with a lot of useful primitive intelligence. The range of allocated resources supporting the gradients provides a means of deducing a potential for more than what has been experienced. I've compiled a rather sizeable and surprising list of what I now call, Universal Conceptual Constants, based on gradient detector arrays for all the sensory modalities and the qualia we subjectively perceive.
Primitive vocalizations (laughing, crying, screaming, barking, growling, whimpering, purring, etc.) should not be construed as any form of language. They are simply innate motor reflexes initiated by biological drives in response to appropriate stimuli or conditions. A rudimentary oratory repertoire predating the evolutionary acquisition of higher communications.
The possible thought processes that a hardware/wetware can directly support (constrained by biology) are limited to reasoning by comparison and reasoning by extension. All those other and forms of reasoning like inductive, deductive, interpolation, and extrapolation are procedural, require symbolic representations, and have to be learned. Analogical reasoning is quite natural and fundamental to the byproduct of architecture due to feature sets that have some features in common.
Mentalese relies heavily on Iconic level representations, pattern matches, and either innate or learned cognitively generated reflexive responses. The reflexive response is propagated from indexical level neurons that conform to the dominant context. It's all in the innate wiring or plastic adaptations acquired through experience.
Among the innate behavioral primitives a species is endowed with is foraging or seeking behavior. The propagation of such behavior arises from biological drive stress and seeking serves to relieve the stress. Context may vary the target of such a fundamental response to include stealth in stalking, running when fleeing, jumping when startled, or fighting when threatened. The role that context plays in the way that behavioral primitives get expressed should not be underestimated for experiences need to be interpreted and choices made. Choices made with regard to context are usually successful while choices made without regard to context are either impotent or disastrous. Habituation can, and often does, overshadow the influence of context in choosing and provoking responses due to success in the past, but things can change and habituation can guide us forth into an endless loop of failures (stuck in a rut).
