Steven Pinker -- How the Mind Works - Hampshire High Italian ...

72 HOW THE MIND WORKSanswer these look-up questions by scanning for identical marks in theGoal and Long-Term Memory columns. When it detects a match, it printsa mark next 1:0 the question which indicates that it has been answeredaffirmatively. For convenience, let's say the mark looks like this: Yes.IF: Goal = blah-blah-blah?Long-Term Memory = blah-blah-blahTHEN: MARK GOALYesThe conceptual challenge faced by the system is that it does not explicitlyknow who is whose uncle; that knowledge is implicit in the otherthings it knows. To say the same thing mechanically: there is no uncle-ofmark in the Long-Term Memory; there are only marks like sibling-ofand parent-of. Conceptually speaking, we need to deduce knowledge ofunclehood from knowledge of parenthood and knowledge of siblinghood.Mechanically speaking, we need a demon to print an uncle-of inscriptionflanked by appropriate marks found in sibling-of and parent-ofinscriptions. Conceptually speaking, we need to find out who our parentsare, identify their siblings, and then pick the males. Mechanically speaking,we need the following demon, which prints new inscriptions in theGoal area that trigger the appropriate memory searches:IF: Goal = Q uncle-of PTHEN: ADD GOALFind P's ParentsFind Parents' SiblingsDistinguish Uncles/AuntsThis demon is triggered by an uncle-of inscription in the Goal column.The Goal column indeed has one, so the demon goes to Work andadds some new marks to the column:Long-Term Memory Short-Term Memory GoalAbel parent-of MeAbel is-maleBella parent-of MeBella is-femaleClaudia sibling-of MeClaudia is-femaleDuddie sibling-of MeGordie uncle-of Me?Find Me's ParentsFind Parents' SiblingsDistinguish Uncles/Aunts