Event Structure

[coberst]

Event Structure

In the process of writing software the engineer discovers a great deal about a process. A computer program is a step by step algorithm that defines the most infinitesimal aspect of a process. Computer programming has helped the scientist to understand the event structure for the movement of our bodies and for the events in the world in general.

Event Structure Skeleton

Initial State: Whatever is required for the event is satisfied

Start: The starting up process for the event

End of Start: The end of the starting up process and the beginning of the main process

Main Process: The central aspects of the event

Possible Interruptions: Disruption of the main event

Possible Continuation or Iteration: The perpetuation or repetition of the main process

Resultant State: The state resulting from the main process

The list above is the skeleton structure that the software design engineer must be prepared to elaborate in minute detail in order to control the motion of a piece of machinery. The creature moving in space whether tadpole or human must have a similar control structure embedded within its servo control system to render such movement possible.

“Though this is a bare skeletal structure, it does come with a rich inferential structure. For example, if you haven’t started, you haven’t finished. If you are not prepared to start, you can’t start. If you’re repeating the process, then it’s occurred before. If you’re in the resultant state, you’ve been through the main process.”

This gives us an idea of the type and detail of the inferences required in simple movements in space even for the tadpole. The point is that our system for movement in space requires sophisticated capability that before cognitive science developed metaphor theory was considered possible only for minds.

I suspect it is easy to read the above sentences and find them to be rather trite; saying such obvious things as “If you are not prepared to start, you can’t start.” May be even laughable if we do not keep in mind what we are talking about. We are describing something very complex and really awesome in a rather trite manner , which is what a software design does. Somewhere I read that “to marvel is the beginning of knowledge and where we cease to marvel we may be in danger of ceasing to know.”

The information about the Event Structure Skeleton comes from “Philosophy in the Flesh” by Lakoff and Johnson.