Prelude
a b c d e f g
Contents
i ii iii iv
Dieu et mon droit
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Tat Tvam Asi
7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2 Mechanics of Evolution
9 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 60 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 70 1 2
3 Environment
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 80 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 90 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100 1 2
4 Physiology of the Individual
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 110 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 120 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 130 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 140
5 Fabric of Society
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 150 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 160 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 170 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 180 1 2 3 4 5 6
6 The Shrine of Content
7 8 9 190 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 200 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 210 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 In His Own Image
7 8 9 220 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 230 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 240 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
8 In Search of Enlightenment
9 250 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 260 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 270 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 280 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 290 1 2
9 Mutation
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 300 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 310 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 320 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 330 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 340
10 Power of Prayer
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 350 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 360 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 370 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 380
11 Revelation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 390 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 400 1 2 3 4
Bibliograpy
5 6 7 8 9 410 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 420
Index
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 430 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 440 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 450 1 2 3 4 5 6

We have been considering human and computer memory. We have expressed memory as a representation of the sensori-motor system that we can reference over time. We use memory to establish context and within that context, we can store and then correctly interpret the recollection of the experiential stimuli and the motor action responses of our mind and body. As we have noted, we do not yet fully understand the basic unit of memory storage within the mind. Moreover, humans apparently do not have an instinctive facility for conveying such units, that is, our memory recollections, between individuals. Thus, it was certainly a mutational event when the species developed the means of such conveyance. In essence, an additional facet was added to the concept of memory. We represent certain contextual interpretation of sensory input and motor action response through language and we are then able to convey this interpretation among individuals. We discussed some of the basic characteristics of language in Chapter 4. Along the way, we have alluded to computer programming by referring to formal languages. It might be useful at this point to take at least a cursory look at the concepts and characteristics of these programming languages as an illustration of the bridge between human and computer approaches to cognition.

The march of computers from the time of their emergence until the present follows a path well marked by the progression of languages that have been used to effect their inner workings. All of these languages have been formal languages, but there has been a constant striving to match the natural language facilities of computers’ creators. In so doing, there has been a corresponding effort to expand the sensori-motor framework for the metaphorical understanding that accompanies language. With the emergence of secure cores as a derivative but highly specialized form of computer, the spectrum of languages was revisited, with all of the same considerations behind the march and with all the same results in the passing.

Given the small size and relatively slow processor speeds of the earliest secure cores, their initial languages were tightly coupled to the processor foundation of the integrated circuit chip that is the heart and soul of the token. Any processing unit has its basic instruction set grounded in the sensori-motor world that forms its metaphorical base. In the case of secure core systems, this encompasses a vision constrained by very slow and simple input/output to the external environment and an ability to manipulate binary bit patterns in small and slowly accessed memory units. This said, we would now expand on general computer languages.

The basic sensori-motor environment of a general-purpose computer is that of a string of bits, zeroes and ones that can be addressed, accessed and manipulated. The basic instructions required to perform computer-level cognitive functions are bit-manipulation, bit-test and transfer to specific address for the next instruction; different computer processors will make use of a variety of these basic operations. Through these basic operations, the computer must build up a symbolic repertoire of objects and operations on those objects that it knows how to deal with. So, let’s consider some of the panoply of programming languages, not to learn any significant number of details about specific languages, but rather to understand some of the very broad characteristics of each that made it useful for addressing certain types of problems.

Programming Languages