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An earlier book by Rodrick Wallace entitled Consciousness: A Mathematical Treatment of the Global Neuronal Workspace Model, introduced a formal information-theoretic approach to individual consciousness implementing approaches developed previously by the cognitive scientist Bernard Baars and the philosopher Fred Dretske.
This book takes a more formal 'groupoid' perspective and generalizes the results of that book to processes of 'distributed cognition' characteristic of large institutions that can entertain several, sometimes many, simultaneous 'global workspaces' which must compete for resources while communicating and cooperating.
Equivalence classes of 'states' produce a network of language-analogs characterizing interacting cognitive modules which entertain multiple workspaces. Equivalence classes of these language-analogs produce dynamical manifolds describing temporal processes carried out by multiple-workspace institutions.
List of contents
Consciousness And Distributed Cognition.- Formal Theory.- Pathologies Of Collective Consciousness.- Disease And Collective Consciousness.- The Failure Of Aids Control And Treatment In The Us.- Final Remarks.- Mathematical appendix.- References.
Summary
An earlier book by Rodrick Wallace entitled Consciousness: A Mathematical Treatment of the Global Neuronal Workspace Model, introduced a formal information-theoretic approach to individual consciousness implementing approaches developed previously by the cognitive scientist Bernard Baars and the philosopher Fred Dretske.
This book takes a more formal 'groupoid' perspective and generalizes the results of that book to processes of 'distributed cognition' characteristic of large institutions that can entertain several, sometimes many, simultaneous 'global workspaces' which must compete for resources while communicating and cooperating.
Equivalence classes of 'states' produce a network of language-analogs characterizing interacting cognitive modules which entertain multiple workspaces. Equivalence classes of these language-analogs produce dynamical manifolds describing temporal processes carried out by multiple-workspace institutions.
Additional text
From the reviews:
"This book describes the mathematical analysis of collective consciousness, with a focus on the relation between public policy and public health, specifically AIDS and TB. … The authors do not indicate who their intended audience is, but researchers and individuals interested in public health and racial policy would be appropriate. … presents some very important ideas in public health and racial policy, presenting them in the context of the collective consciousness. The case studies at the end help to bring out the important points." (Gary B Kaniuk, Psy. Doody’s Review Service, March, 2008)
Report
From the reviews:
"This book describes the mathematical analysis of collective consciousness, with a focus on the relation between public policy and public health, specifically AIDS and TB. ... The authors do not indicate who their intended audience is, but researchers and individuals interested in public health and racial policy would be appropriate. ... presents some very important ideas in public health and racial policy, presenting them in the context of the collective consciousness. The case studies at the end help to bring out the important points." (Gary B Kaniuk, Psy. Doody's Review Service, March, 2008)
