# KEHOME/knowledge/theory/Epistemology/TabulaRasa.html
# Jun/28/2002 #
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# Tabula Rasa #
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# Richard H. McCullough #
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Reference:
Ayn Rand, "The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution",
Revised Edition, New American Library, 1975.
"The Comprachicos", page 190.
At birth, a child's mind is tabula rasa; he has the
potential of awareness -- the mechanism of a human
consciousness -- but no content. Speaking metaphorically,
he has a camera with an extremely sensitive, unexposed
film (his conscious mind), and an extremely complex
computer waiting to be programmed (his subconscious).
Both are blank.
What I want to do here is to define the context embodied
in the "camera" and "computer" of the human mind.
The context includes the Axiomatic Propositions
discussed previously.
We next add the fundamental concepts of knowledge
at space=s, time=t, view = tabula rasa {
knowledge := man do identify od existent done
knowledge unit is list of proposition
knit is knowledge unit # abbreviation
proposition is list of word
word means concept, unit
unit isu concept
unit means existent # referent
sensation := man do sense od existent done
percept := man do perceive od sensation done # remember
concept := man do classify od percept done
characteristic := man do identify od concept done
value := man do measure od characteristic done
concept isi unit1,unit2,... with value # integrate
species1,species2,... isd concept with value # differentiate
}
and the other concepts which characterize the mechanism of
a human consciousness
causality
volition
and the grammatical relationships of the knowledge representation
language, KR. For example:
if, then, else, fi,
every
As a concession to practical efficiency, the tabula_rasa view
includes some other commonly used concepts, e.g.,
animal plant object
live move birth death
purpose
number
file
list sequence set
hierarchy lattice group
Here's the final tabula rasa hierarchy
and definitions.
Knowledge Explorer has its own context of attributes and actions,
which govern its interaction with the user. These are described
in Knowledge Explorer and
KE attributes and actions.