“Interaction,” not “perception” and “action”
…notice that the very distinction between perception and action is itself artificially emphasized and sharpened by the image of a central processor or mind working between them, receiving “input” from the one and then (later) sending “output” to the other. The primary instance is rather interaction, which is simultaneously perceptive and active, richly integrated in real time.
Thus, what’s noteworthy about our refrigerator aptitudes is not just, or even mainly, that we can visually identify what’s there, but rather the fact that we can, easily and reliably, reach around the milk and over the baked beans to lift out the orange juice—without spilling any of them. This high-bandwidth hand-eye coordination—or, better, hand-eye-refrigerator coordination—is what Brooks calls an “activity” or “skill” (though much more advanced than his robots). There is little reason to believe that symbol processing has much to do with it—unless one is already committed to the view that reasoning must underlie all flexible competence.
—Haugeland, J., 2000: Mind Embodied and Embedded, p. 15. Chapter 9 in Haugeland, J., 2000: Having Thought: Essays in the Metaphysics of Mind. Harvard University Press.
author:haugeland-john book:haugeland-having-thought paper:haugeland-mind-embodied-and-embedded snip:interaction-not-perception-and-action interaction perception action flexibility activity skill definition refrigerator list:mind-body-world
