Questions in Cognitive Mimetics

Abstract

Human thinking advances through questions and answers. Any field of human endeavor is permeated by the presence of questions, answers and presuppositions. Questions have a kind of universality, whereby one can place the question marks on anything, including questions themselves. The process of asking the right questions about the right things and in the right way are key for the explication of an approach. Recently, we have begun thinking about an approach to the design of intelligent technology: Cognitive mimetics. In brief, the idea is to take inspiration of empirical human thinking in specific contexts to develop AI solutions. The purpose of this article is to question this approach from various angles to take steps towards specifying it as a methodology. Some of the questions are like the chips a sculptor would make on a rough unfinished piece of marble. They and their answers uncover a particular shape immanent in the broad idea we have presented. Other questions are like the tools the sculptor needs to turn an idea into reality, these are the questions which will have permanent applicability within the methodology itself. Finally, some questions are promissory notes, they concern issues that will need to be responded to as the method construction proceeds further. The purpose is to establish a waypoint of where our thinking stands at the moment and an idea of where it may lead. The way we present and answer some of the questions may be of broader interest for researchers involved in fundamental and practical questions in AI design.