RELIGION FROM SCIENTIFIC

POINT OF VIEW

Arizona State University

14 Oct., 2008

Dr. Leonid Perlovsky

Harvard University and AFRL

OUTLINE

Science and religion today

Artificial intelligence difficulties since the 1950s

and logic

Dynamic logic, the mind, and the knowledge

instinct

Higher cognitive functions

Beautiful (scientific explanation)

Sublime (scientific explanation)

GOD (scientific explanation)

SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Can

scientific and religious views be reconciled?

Many

scientists wrote that scientific discoveries

in physics, molecular biology, evolution, and
cosmology do not contradict the main tenets of
the worlds religions

Einstein:
Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced
that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe.

Jung:
Schism between science and religion points to a psychosis of contemporary
collective psyche,
survival of culture demands repairing this schism

CURRENT UNDERSTANDING
There

is no scientific theory, explaining religion

From

a review (in my words):

I hoped that your book will help me to enter my classroom

without leaving my religious beliefs at the doorstep. I hoped
that Ill be able to enter my church without leaving at the
doorstep my intellectual integrity. I hoped for too much.

attempt to outline directions to unifying science

and religion
Not any specific religion
Scientific foundations for emotions of religiously sublime

DIFFICULTIES OF AI SINCE
the1950s
Cognition

involves evaluating large

numbers of combinations
Pixels -> objects -> scenes

Combinations

of 100 elements are 100100

This number is larger than the size of the Universe

> all the events in the Universe during its entire life

Combinatorial

Complexity (CC)

A general problem (since the 1950s)

AI, recognition, language
Statistical, neural networks, rule systems

CC vs. LOGIC
CC is related to formal logic
Gdel proved that logic is illogical, inconsistent
(1930s)
CC is Gdel's incompleteness in a finite system
Logic

pervades all algorithms

rule systems, fuzzy systems (degree of fuzziness),

pattern recognition, neural networks (training uses
logic)

DYNAMIC LOGIC

Dynamic Logic: from vague to crisp

initial vague concepts (thoughts, decisions,

plans) dynamically evolve into crisp concepts
(formal-logic)

Overcomes CC

Experimentally proved recently in brain

neuro-imaging
- The brain works from vague to crisp
- Vague are also less conscious

OUTLINE

Science and religion today

Artificial intelligence difficulties since the 1950s

and logic

Dynamic logic, the mind, and the knowledge

instinct

Higher cognitive functions

Beautiful (scientific explanation)

Sublime (scientific explanation)

GOD (scientific explanation)

STRUCTURE OF THE MIND

Concepts
Models of objects, their relations, and situations
Evolved to satisfy instincts

Instincts
Internal sensors (e.g. sugar level in blood)

Emotions
Neural signals connecting instincts and concepts
e.g. a hungry person sees food all around

Behavior
Models of goals (desires) and muscle-movement

Hierarchy
Concept-models and behavior-models are organized in a loose
hierarchy

THE KNOWLEDGE INSTINCT

Model-concepts always have to be adapted

lighting, surrounding, new objects and situations
even when there is no concrete bodily needs

Instinct for knowledge and understanding

Increase similarity between models and the world

Emotions related to the knowledge instinct

Satisfaction or dissatisfaction
change in similarity between models and world

Related not to bodily instincts

harmony or disharmony (knowledge-world): aesthetic emotion

CAUSALITY VS. TELEOLOGY

The knowledge instinct is a teleological principle

The mind and human evolution has a purpose: increase of
knowledge
Evolution is moved by a final cause

The knowledge instinct is mathematically

equivalent to dynamic logic
Teleology = causal dynamics

Scientific causality = Intelligent design

Basic physical laws at the elementary level are

the same
Hamiltonian dynamics = minimization of Lagrangian (energy minimization)
But for complex systems KI is a revolutionary change

- Law of Entropy: evolution toward chaos (thermal death)

- Law of the KI: evolution toward knowledge

OUTLINE

Science and religion today

Artificial intelligence difficulties since the 1950s and

logic

Dynamic logic, the mind, and the knowledge instinct

- Engineering applications

Higher cognitive functions

Beautiful (scientific explanation)

Sublime (scientific explanation)

GOD (scientific explanation)

APPLICATIONS

Many applications

Signals processing and object recognition

Financial market predictions

Market crash on 9/11 predicted a week ahead

Internet search engines

Based on text understanding

Semantic Web

PERCEPTION:
PATTERNS BELOW NOISE
Three objects in noise
object 1
object 2 object 3
SCR
- 0.70 dB -1.98 dB -0.73 dB

3 Object Image + Clutter

3 Object Image

IMAGE PATTERNS BELOW NOISE

DL starts with uncertain knowledge, and similar to human mind converges rapidly on
exact solution

IMAGE PATTERNS BELOW NOISE

3 objects, 10,000 data points, signal-to-noise, S/N ~ 0.5

Complexity: Logical~MN ~105000; DL ~ 106, Improvement in S/N about 100 times

OUTLINE

Science and religion today

Artificial intelligence difficulties since the 1950s

and logic

Dynamic logic, the mind, and the knowledge

instinct

Higher cognitive functions

Beautiful (scientific explanation)

Sublime (scientific explanation)

GOD (scientific explanation)

HIGHER COGNITIVE
FUNCTIONS

Abstract concept-models are at higher levels of the hierarchy

Higher level concepts are general, vague, less conscious
Higher levels unify lower-level knowledge
Purpose of higher-level concepts: make meanings of lower-level
knowledge

meanings
Action/Adaptation

Similarity measures
Models

situations
Similarity measures

Action/Adaptation

Models

objects

BEAUTY

The highest aesthetic emotion, beautiful

improvement of the highest models (at the top of the
hierarchy)
feel emotion of beautiful

Beautiful reminds us of our purposiveness

the top model unifies all our knowledge
vague, rarely consciously perceived
we perceive it as our lifes purpose (Kant:
purposiveness)
what makes us different from a piece of rock?

Beauty is separate from sex

sex uses all our abilities, including beauty

aimless

RELIGIOUSLY SUBLIME

Beautiful
Emotion related to improvement of the highest conceptmodel of understanding of our meaning and purpose

Sublime
Emotion related to improvement of the highest conceptmodel of behavior toward making our lives meaningful and
purposeful
Can we do this? When we feel we can, we feel emotion of
sublime.

Ten commandments?
Maimonides (12th century): God demands from us thinking on
our own, but we are incapable, therefore, he gave us ten
commandments

GOD
FROM PURELY SCIENTIFIC VIEW

The highest concept(s) in our mind

They direct our lives

Vague, not differentiated, not separated from emotions, not

conscious
They do not belong to our conscious psyche (I)
We do not owe them

They owe us
We perceive them as active source of will outside of our selves
Agents with will and purpose

This is what traditionally is called GOD

C. Jung warned against psychologizing unconscious

Science
tread
on
incomputable, infinite, unconscious,
mysterious

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

research, predictions and testing of NMF/DL

Brain neuroimaging
Cognitive and emotional hierarchy
Higher concepts and emotions
Conscious vs. unconscious

History of cultures, historical linguistics, and psycholinguistics

Correlate evolution of religions, languages, consciousness, and cultures
Measure emotionality of various languages in labs and correlated with religious and cultural evolution

Mathematical development
Joint evolution of language and cognition
DL in the hierarchy, evolution of the higher models
Emotionality in computer models of evolution of languages and cultures

Music
Direct effect on emotions
Concurrent evolution of music, consciousness, religions, and cultures

Improve human condition around the globe

Develop predictive cultural models, integrate spiritual and material causes
Identify language and music effects that can advance consciousness, reduce religious intolerance, and
tensions
Diagnose cultural states (up, down, stagnation), measure Differentiation, Synthesis, Hierarchy

22

BACKUP
Combinatorial
Aristotle

Complexity since the 1950s

vs. Gdel

Language,

cognition, and cultures

Role

of music in evolution of cognition and

cultures

Predictions
16-Sep-05

and testing
23

COMBINATORIAL COMPLEXITY
SINCE the 1950s

CC was encountered for over 50 years

Statistical pattern recognition and neural networks: CC of

learning requirements

Rule systems and AI, in the presence of variability : CC

of rules
Minsky 1960s: Artificial Intelligence
Chomsky 1957: language mechanisms are rule systems

Model-based systems, with adaptive models: CC of

computations
Chomsky 1981: language mechanisms are model-based (rules and parameters)

Current ontologies, semantic web are rule-systems

Evolvable ontologies : present challenge

ARISTOTLE VS. GDEL

logic, forms, and language

Aristotle
Logic: a supreme way of argument
Forms: representations in the mind
Form-as-potentiality evolves into form-as-actuality
Potentialities are illogical, actualities are logical (Dynamic Logic)

Language and thinking are closely linked

From Boole to Russell: formalization of

logic
Logicians eliminated from logic uncertainty of language
Hilbert: formalize rules of mathematical proofs forever

Gdel (the 1930s)

Logic is not consistent

Aristotle and Alexander the Great

LANGUAGE vs. COGNITION

Nativists, - since the 1950s

- Language is a separate mind mechanism (Chomsky)
- Pinker: language instinct

Cognitivists, - since the 1970s

- Language jointly with cognition
- Talmy, Elman, Tomasello

Evolutionists, - since the 1980s

- Language transmission between generations
- Hurford, Kirby, Cangelosi

NMF / DL was extended to language ~ 2000

Co-evolution of language and cognition

INTEGRATED
LANGUAGE AND COGNITION

Where language and cognition come together?

A fuzzy concept m has linguistic and cognitive-sensory models
Mm = { Mmcognitive,Mmlanguage };
Language and cognition are fused at fuzzy pre-conceptual level
before concepts are learned

Language and cognition

Initial models are vague fuzzy blobs
Language models have empty slots for cognitive model (objects
and situations)
Language participates in cognition and v.v.

L & C help learning and understanding each other

Help associating signals, words, models, and behavior

SYMBOLIC ABILITY

Integrated hierarchies of Cognition and Language

High level cognition is only possible due to language

cognition

language

grounded in language

Action

Similarity

Action

Similarity
M

M
grounded in language

Similarity

Action
M

grounded in real-world objects

Similarity

Action
M

EVOLUTION OF CULTURES

The knowledge instinct

Two mechanisms: differentiation and synthesis

Differentiation
At every level of the hierarchy: more detailed concepts
Separate concepts from emotions

Synthesis
Connect knowledge to life
Connect concepts and emotions
Connect language and cognition
Connect high and low: concepts acquire meaning at the next level

16-Sep-05

29

EMOTIONS IN LANGUAGE
Animal

vocal tract

controlled by old (limbic) emotional system

involuntary

Human

vocal tract

controlled by two emotional centers: limbic and cortex

Involuntary and voluntary

Human

voice determines emotional content of cultures

Emotionality of language is in its sound: melody of speech

16-Sep-05

30

LANGUAGE
EMOTIONS AND CUTURES
Conceptual content of culture:
Easily borrowed among cultures

words, phrases

Emotional content of culture

In voice sound (melody of speech)
Determined by grammar
Cannot be borrowed among cultures
English language (Diff. > Synthesis)
Weak connection between conceptual and emotional (since 15 c)
Pragmatic, high culture, but may lead to identity crisis
Arabic language (Synthesis > Diff.)
Strong connection between conceptual and emotional
Cultural immobility, but strong feel of identity (synthesis)
16-Sep-05

31

MODELS OF
CULTURAL EVOLUTION
Differentiation,

D, synthesis, S,

hierarchy, H
dD/dt = a D G(S);
dS/dt = -bD + dH
H

= H0 + e*t

G(S) = (S - S0) exp(-(S-S0) / S1)

DYNAMIC CULTURE

Average synthesis, high differentiation; oscillating solution

Knowledge accumulates; no stability

TRADITIONAL CULTURE

High synthesis, low differentiation; stable solution

Stagnation, stability increases

INTERACTING CULTURES
Two

cultures

dynamic and traditional

slow exchange by D and S
dDk/dt = ak Dk G(Sk) + xkDk
dSk/dt = -bkDk + dkHk + ykSk
Hk

= H0k + ek*t

INTERACTING CULTURES

Early: Dynamic culture affects traditional culture, no reciprocity

2) Later: 2 dynamic cultures stabilize each other
1)

Knowledge accumulation + stability

PUBLICATIONS
300 publications
3 books
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
(2001; 3rd printing)

2007:
Neurodynamics of High
Cognitive Functions
with Prof. Kozma, Springer

Sapient Systems
with Prof. Mayorga, Springer

2008:
The Knowledge Instinct
Basic Books

ROLE OF MUSIC IN
EVOLUTION OF THE MIND

Melody of human voice contains vital information

About peoples world views and mutual compatibility
Exploits mechanical properties of human inner ear
Consonances and dissonances

Tonal system evolved (14th to 19th c.) for

Differentiation of emotions
Synthesis of conceptual and emotional
Bach integrates personal concerns with the highest

Pop-song is a mechanism of synthesis

Integrates conceptual (lyric) and emotional (melody)

Also, differentiates emotions
Bach concerns are too complex for many everyday needs
Human consciousness requires synthesis immediately

Rap is a simplified, but powerful mechanism of synthesis

Exactly like ancient Greek dithyrambs of Dionysian cult

SCIENCE VS. RELIGION

Science

causal mechanisms

Religion

teleology (purpose)

Wrong!
In basic physics causality and teleology are equivalent
The principle of minimal energy is teleological
More general, min. Lagrangian

The

knowledge instinct

Teleological principle in evolution of the mind and culture

Dynamic logic is a causal law equivalent to the KI
Causality and teleology are equivalent
16-Sep-05

39

PREDICTIONS AND TESTING

of NMF/DL theory of the mind

Experimental testing
Neural, psychological, and psycholinguistic labs
Simulation of multi-agent evolving systems

Instinctual learning mechanisms

Ongoing and future research:

similarity measure as a foundation of knowledge and language instincts

mechanisms of model parameterization and parameter adaptation
dynamics of fuzziness during perception/cognition/learning
mechanisms of language and cognition integration
emotionality of languages and cultures
mechanisms of differentiation and synthesis
mechanisms of cultural evolution
role of music in synthesis and in cultural evolution

NEURAL MODELING FIELDS

basic two-layer mechanism: from signals to
concepts

Bottom-up

signals

Pixels or samples (from sensor or retina)

x(n), n = 1,,N
Top-down

concept-models

Mm(Sm,n), parameters Sm, m = 1, ;

Models predict expected signals from objects

THE KNOWLEDGE INSTINCT MATH.

The knowledge instinct = maximization of

similarity between signals and models

Similarity between signals and models, L

L = l ({x}) = l (x(n))
n

l (x(n)) = r(m) l (x(n) | Mm(Sm,n))

m

l (x(n) | Mm(Sm,n)) is a conditional similarity for x(n) given m

{n} are not independent, M(n) may depend on n

CC: L contains MN items: all associations of

pixels and models (LOGIC)

DYNAMIC LOGIC (DL)

non-combinatorial solution

Start with a set of signals and unknown object-models

any parameter values Sm
associate object-model with its contents (signal composition)
(1)

f(m|n) = r(m) l (n|m) / r(m') l (n|m')

m'

Improve parameter estimation

(2) Sm = Sm + f(m|n) [ln l (n|m)/Mm]*[Mm/Sm]
( determines speed of convergence)
n

learn signal-contents of objects

Continue iterations (1)-(2). Theorem: MF is a

converging system
- similarity increases on each iteration
- aesthetic emotion is positive during learning