Oh the Possibilities

For this week I wanted to look at what I think I want my paper to be. I was very interested in the virtual reality and emotional manipulation sections. I wanted to write on the possibilities of literature if applied to a virtual realm as well as the minds cognitive/ToM effects resulting. Primarily my paper is going to involve my in-class presentation and a mix of readings from the emotion-literature and VR weeks. I have a possible Thesis below but it is very rough looking and Still needs a little clarification or a small restructuring. Basically I want to dissect the character of Christopher in order to exhibit the humanity from his inhumanity and relate this to artificial intelligence/robots/computers and how our cognitive functioning both is changed or mirrored similar to our functioning with other "normal" human individuals. This will help draw parallels with literature and the Theory of Mind involved, but also can help show the possibility of the future of literature. Another problem that could be possibly tackled is the problem of transitioning literature into VR (I don't know if I will do this) because of the variability of experience based on the placement of the user. If they are simulating the protagonist, their view on the story is completely different from if they were a third party member because of the separation between the characters experience and the outsider's mindset. A different problem is determining what changes in cognition will bleed through to the real world. Finally by changing to a visual platform, it changes the amount of imagination and creative  thinking but enhances the reality and physicality of the storyline. 

Possible Thesis:

            The view of the mind being a viewing platform is one that is tackled in a couple of works, most importantly the Curious Incident. It is through this novel that Attention and reflection are handled in a way that produces a dichotomy between human and computer. However with increasing virtual reality tests and studies it is clear that computers may be able to mimic emotion and become humanized. It is possible that techniques of theory of mind may be able to be applied to these computer characters in order to effect real world outcomes just as literature and other arts do.

Whoever does read this, I would love feedback or perhaps additional tips, ideas, or resources that will help me find a more well-rounded thesis and write a more complete paper. Hope to hear some response in order to help. And Good luck to others writing Final Papers.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?.

      Virtual Reality allows possibilities that seem endless, but the cost of programming and technology limits its ability. With virtual reality technology social and cognitive experiments can be done in a controlled environment without compromising the facade of a natural setting. A new world can be created and engaged with by a variety of individuals through quick-access cognitive pathways: vision. In the section read this week, examples of practical and experimental uses for virtual reality were listed with interesting results. However, learning about ToM and other immersion techniques has made me question the comparability of virtual reality to literature. It would seem to me that both have pros and cons to cognition. While virtual reality handles all visual attributes it lacks in the complexity of real-world scenarios that only the imagination could achieve, but then again, literature requires much attention in order to be fully immersed. It would be most interesting to be able to do a side by side comparison between the effects of both on the mind and individuals actions.
          Of course, certain individuals may not be able to participate well in one or the other. If, for example, Christopher were given the choice of the two he would of course choose virtual reality because of his strong affinity for the computer and dislike of surreal fiction. Others such as Dyslexics would also prefer the virtual world to its plain text counterpart because of their inability to immerse fully due to their disability. However, what about simulating one of these individuals as a "normal" being. Which would be a more convincing or enlightening experience. Do you think reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time would trump the virtual experience? Is it the fact that you are allowed to be witness to the mind of the character or rather to be placed in the environment of them. If it is the latter, then virtual reality would be a better immersion device, but i would think that not everyone would act in a similar way unless of course pressured by a group or some outside restriction. Only witnessing the mind of one individual takes away from the experience necessary to fully understand the mind's development and how certain choices are made.
         Lets take this further, could we use either of these two processes or a combination of the two in order to influence cognition for an artificial brain. This is assuming the fact that we can teach other humans. However, if we could influence the ideas of human cognition using these two means then it could be plausible to teach patterns to an artificial intelligence in order to learn how to think or develop human-like thought.

Separate but Equal

       This week we read about two abnormalities in human cognition. The first was Dyslexia, which is a general term for a set of reading disorders, in a chapter of Dehaene's Reading in the Brain. The other is Autism and this is a disorder of varying degrees of both social and cognitive disability. While they have different causes, we assume since we do not know the causes of either,  both disorders have similar outcomes when it comes to reading, they have problems with the comprehension of literature. In the case of Autism, many of those affected cannot grasp two key concepts needed for healthy social growth. These two concepts are fictionalization, the ability to create a spatial or metaphorical nonexistence, and theory of mind, the ability to predict anothers actions and thoughts through gestures and speech patterns. Dyslexia, on the other hand, deals with the construction of words themselves. This can be a trouble in phonetic sound memorization and/or visual recognition of letters due to word density. But one question that comes along is this, "Why do we care?"
        This question is a serious one and with a little education one can learn the answer. If one were to look at the number diagnosed, then they would have the short answer: a lot of people are affected by these disorders. 1 out of every 88 children are diagnosed with Autism and many other children are diagnosed with dyslexia in varying degrees, numbers cannot be tallied because of lack of a set diagnosis criteria. This means that a large amount of the population have a problem with literature and thus education. If in fact this large amount of children cannot understand literature, then this same population will have trouble understanding other key concepts and relations made both in academic and social education. It is then our duty to dedicate perhaps a new style of teaching one that could thwart such inability and perhaps let those who have no disorder to learn easier and be able to interact just as well with those who do.