The physicality of representation.

Representation is typically taken to be importantly separate from its physical implementation. This is exemplified in Marr's three-level framework, widely cited and often adopted in neuroscience. However, the separation between representation and physical implementation is not a necessary feature of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Synthese Vol. 199; no. 5/6; pp. 14725 - 14751
Autor principal: Maley, Corey J.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Dec2021
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Representation is typically taken to be importantly separate from its physical implementation. This is exemplified in Marr's three-level framework, widely cited and often adopted in neuroscience. However, the separation between representation and physical implementation is not a necessary feature of information-processing systems. In particular, when it comes to analog computational systems, Marr's representational/algorithmic level and implementational level collapse into a single level. Insofar as analog computation is a better way of understanding neural computation than other notions, Marr's three-level framework must then be amended into a two-level framework. However, far from being a problem or limitation, this sheds lights on how to understand physical media as being representational, but without a separate, medium-independent representational level.