English Posts

Investigating a Theory of Mind

posted 29 Mar 2012, 00:51 by Kirill Sorudeykin   [ updated 7 Feb 2014, 08:31 ]

It can be observed that some amount of fundamental principles of reasoning is similar between analyzing of various independent tasks and subject fields, between different people and different knowledge. We can state that those principles might underlie the phenomena of thinking and form a peculiar core, which could explain us how our mind treats objects of reality, what language, what rules it uses to comprehend things it can observe. These rules give the intelligence an ability to create, to synthesize, i.e. to take a set of some uncoordinated things and make something organic, integral from them, changing the point of view to the whole picture. But not only virtual entities carry traits of such a structured view. Any kind of systems in our world, independently of their nature, uses the same rules in their creation as the mental space does. This can be seen for example in structural organization of objects or systems of real world and their interactions, other types of behavior (dynamics), which are in general case nonlinear. Moreover, the term “space” can be generalized onto any kind of spatial relations – mental relations (or intelligence) as the media of building connections and coordination (organizing) of conceptual views; physical space, as the media of interaction of physical objects by means of physical laws and coordination (ordering) of physical objects on the basis of their main characteristics using certain principles (rules); any other types of spaces, including cyberspace, which also has its own specific rules and characters. All these environments along with, naturally, their individual type-related specifics have also something in common. This is the general organization principles which display spatial relations themselves, without a direct connection to the nature of specific matter. Systematic properties of our mental images are the same as those of the real objects of any other nature. They interact conceptually in the same way, having the same principles of limitations. And these pro­perties (laws, rules) we should extract, optimally organize and represent in the form of a comprehensive theory.

In the development of mathematical basis for the theory as the primary source of objects’ dynamics we use topological views rather than algorithmic, because this leads to more stable and solid representation of phenomena of interactions, and the theory should be simple, observable and clear. The main criterion we use to develop a theory is an evaluation of optimality. Really, in optimal design for example we need to heed as more details as we can, providing the deepest level of reasoning to take into account all the possible variants of the further developments. But trying to do this we inevitably face the problem of choice, having a need to combine some uncorrelating objects or characters into whole. And we should be able to effectively solve this problem, to determine what should be serial and what simultaneous, what set of characters we should really consider to make a solution optimal, to regularize the relations between components, not to allow them to collide. Optimal solution supposes finding such a view, which allows packing up all the components naturally, without any conflicts and empty spaces, using the special set of methods. This requires thinking process to flow under specific limitations and be controlled by special criteria, i.e. boundaries, which we are investigating.

As a result we are obtaining a library (framework) for objective design, a universal objective language, which describes the generally principled relations; the infrastructure of thinking, able to provide the means for automated decision making and classification. A wide space of theoretical research is here. As well as a lot of topics for practical applications in engineering, research and control fields. For example, quick computer orientation, which is mandatory for computer control at, for example, manufacturing industry; or a creative computer assistantship which will be important in any kind of design tasks as well as problem solving issues.

How to achieve career success

posted 2 Jul 2011, 16:49 by Kirill Sorudeykin   [ updated 6 Feb 2013, 14:25 ]

You cannot find success on the road. Sure, there were such cases, but believe me, they are not yours (they are unique). So, if you really decided to achieve success in your profession, you need to find your path. How to determine/find it?

Many people stopped to develop only due to obstacles they came across. Obstacles such as indeterminacy, when you do not have a person, who can advise you something, help you find a better way with their wisdom. And there you face the problem of finding answers by yourself. Of course, this is a great honour – to be able and to have an opportunity to work and to live in your own way, to be self-determined. In this case you have a freedom to make decisions, to have your own point of view, to be right. But also this is a state when you cannot be relaxed. You live your own life, but you live in society, in specific culture, with specific needs. You are connected with world anyway, that’s why you cannot be absolutely free from it even in your mind. So, how to be wise when judging things you haven’t answers for?

The first thing you should remember is that you need to remain calm in any case. Being ready to decide is better than being disappointed. So, you need some kind of psychological therapy, like mental therapy John Nash noticed in one of his interviews when telling about his strive to use computer in work instead of many of his colleagues who didn’t use computer. This therapy should give you constancy in directing you to your goal despite the difficulties, constancy to move forward when other people think that there is no way forth. You will face a powerful psychological stress, emotional and moral pressure, dependency on a variety of resources. You need this training to do things right, to think reasonably, to be able to find a solution no matter how much time you have and how much stress. Being calm and focused is more important even than just being in action (no matter how it sounds), because if you understand the situation, if you fit it in memory, then you are able to act, to act right and to gain a success. Just being in action is nothing without being deep in subject area.

The second point is a continuation of first one. If you are able to stay determined in the avalanche of stress then you should learn how to win in such a situation. What does this mean? This means that being on the peak of stress you should be able to produce winning combination. No matter how you compel yourself, how you concentrate, but you should, you must do this. Only such a way can bring you the victory. Only after passing through this fence, through this barbwire you will move to a new stage. And everyone, who wins, does not use any other technique, just this technique of strong will and unceasing self-control.

Last, but not least, the third component is your ability to superpose, to arrange things, to make combinations of objects in your mind, producing new, innovative, creative solutions. This can help you to leap ahead, to find appropriate and optimal solutions. Someone call it Memory Readiness (for example, Charles Darwin once wrote that he was able to remember required information when needed, or at least remember, where he could find it), others – Abstract Thinking. This force is widely graduated, but good news is that you can train it – with your experience and knowledge, when trying to solve complex tasks, like famous “Iron Samson” Alexander Zass, who developed his own training system, Isometry, and in due time was called a strongest man on the Earth by The Daily Telegraph and The Manchester Guardian for his tremendous strength which he demonstrated in spite of his unimpressive physique.

        Surely, this is just psychology while success requires much and much more to being real. But before getting any other power in your hands, you need to be ready, to be mature. Only ripe kernel can give you a shoot of wheat. And then you will find right opportunities by yourself.
 
by Kirill Sorudeykin
The paper is published at the IEEE GOLD Rush newsletter, September 2011, p.3

Cognitive Aspects of Software Engineering

posted 3 Feb 2011, 17:05 by Kirill Sorudeykin   [ updated 3 Feb 2011, 17:27 ]

Psychology or productivity? Software Engineering is a complex field where creativity plays one of the leading roles. That's why it cannot be called 'industry' in every sense of the world. How to make Software Development process more regular and thereby minimize the risks? There is the only way - to manage. But what should be the main point of interest in management, considering the individuality of every person of a group? 

Understanding! That's the thing! Personal productivity depends on our cognitive mechanisms. And their secrets lie in the field of spirituality. Inner balance, certainty, composure, consciousness both in profession and in life - all these things lead to the liberty of mind. Effectiveness of a team is a result of effectivenes of every person. Self-organizing or synergistic effect came when all the team members start to see outside the scopes, shifting accents and finding touching points with each other. 

Thus we obtain an Agile management, true flexible, reliable and goal-oriented. Only one thing is necessary - focus on a right problem. How to choose or select ones is a peculiar view, which is a subject of author training "Innovative Thinking and The Instrumentary of Decision Making". Next  session of training will be held on on March 12 in Kharkov, Ukraine. Details on training.relvecorp.com

Mind Dynamics: towards the Theory of Unification

posted 27 Jan 2011, 12:18 by Kirill Sorudeykin   [ updated 6 Feb 2013, 14:48 ]

Mind is a display of profound laws of nature. There is something deeply similar in underlying principles of mental dynamics and, for example, behavior of the objects of physical world. Common ideas must underlie these diverse phenomena. And we should make this generalization in science. For sure, it is hard to find so elegant point of view. But this is definitely possible.

In any field of action we can meet such problems as a lack of information, complexity and correlations. They are continually accompanying things of our everyday life, especially for such people who engaged in science and technology. And everywhere we can study optimality by observing various types of interactions. No matter what kind of space and forces we choose to investigate, the phenomenon of interactions is always inherently the same. We need optimality as much as we need air and sun light. It is our inner desire – to surround ourselves with beauty. On the whole, optimality and beauty are merely two different words which embody the same powerful force. The question is either only our minds see the world in this way or it is an objective law of nature. This constitutes the most fundamental problem of all times.

Outward things demonstrate a lot of facts where interactions play leading role. Interactions can be found both in human activities and wildlife. If we take a look at the science, we can find a great number of conformities. Chaos theory tries to predict a position and behavior of small particles in a wide area of space after a relatively long period of time. To do this it uses Probability Theory. Quantum mechanics tries to describe a nature of fundamental forces of physics such as weak nuclear interaction. The study of gravity, which is based principally on the General Theory of Relativity, describes interactions of macro objects like planets. Electromagnetism, gravity, weak and strong nuclear forces should be united in the Theory of Everything or in another words a Unified Theory. This is one of the most important courses of modern theoretical physics during more than a hundred years. And it is still unresolved. There are several candidates for the solution: Field Theory, based on the differential geometry, Strings Theory which rides on the supersymmetry, an Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything, grounded on the Lie algebra. But all of them endure hardships now.

Unified Theory is not a prerogative exactly of theoretical physics. In another branch of science, economics, Games Theory is widely used. It completely relies on the specificities of objects’ interactions. Non-cooperative games say that we need a general view on the system dynamics to build optimal strategies for each separate object. For that reason interactions between objects within the bounds of the mentioned system will have a high degree of mutual organization. The same process we know as a synergy. This research branch is concentrated on the phenomena of self-organization and autowave processes. As well as Darwinian Evolution it studies interaction within the systems. Natural selection provides a succession of improvement steps which gradually adapt objects to the dynamically changing environment. Emergent behavior illuminates the nature of irreducible complexity that is the effect of cardinal changes in systems’ structures. Another example is a phenomenon of self-similarity widely represented in nature and being studied by means of mathematical fractals.

Intellectual activity is full of interactions too. Mentality is merely interactions between imaginary objects in a virtual space which we call mind. But the latter is more like a battlefield. Trying to make crucial decisions, you take a risk of entering into the state of stagnation. This is a very impediment to creativity. However, a succession of turning points limits a number of possible alternatives. Known as complexity, this fact is a foundation of Computer Science. The truth is you need certain external influence, a backbone to produce optimal solutions. It helps to sight most important correlations. Also conation is necessary to direct your thoughts and keep them in leash. Anyway you must continuously move forward in position because this is the only way to select specific path of further developments. Persistent, ubiquitous trend of nature determines any human activity, but our will is a motive power of this dynamics.

A Flexible Thinking

posted 25 Jan 2011, 17:51 by Kirill Sorudeykin

The main Agile value is flexibility. What allows us to be flexible? Of course our mind... What principles of thinking lie on the foundation of flexibility, foundation of Agile? Does our mind flexible? These and other questions are the main issues of author training "Innovative thinking and The Instrumentary of Mind".

All the discoveries made by man and all the investigations always were directed towards the one goal - to investigate flexibility. People always strive to prove the laws they recognize as the most universal. We always want to have the most definitive answers to be ready for any situation. We were always looking for comprehension. And always wonder when somebody turned out to be able to get instantly to the optimal solutions of the most exciting problems being in the most critical circumstances and achieve a success when nobody else believed in this. Wonder even if a long period of preparatory work preceded such solutions.

What does allow these people to achieve the highest results? Are there some principles which we can adopt to be so productive? How can be flexible thinking helpful in Agile development and how to develop agile mind? The training "Innovative thinking and The Instrumentary of Mind" by Relevance Research & Development Corp. is based on the results of more than 9-year investigation of these questions and now have the answers.

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