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p.1 Until now the theory of problem-solving (e.g. Newell and Simon,
1972) has mainly emphasized the search of solutions within a problem space. From this viewpoint, problem-solving
capability (i.e. intelligence) should be seen as the possession of adequate heuristics, which allow to make the search
more efficient. This view presupposes that the search space is explicit and well-structured, i.e. that at
each decision point there is a well-defined set of operators (or problem states to be generated) from
which the most promising can be chosen according to some heuristic rule.
p.6-7 It is clear then that the variety of potential distinctions
to be generated is extremely large. The difficulty resides in the selection of the most adequate distinctions. Ultimately
this adequacy is determined by the capability of the distinction system to ensure the survival of the agent, i.e. to ensure
that the agent will not be eliminated by natural selection. Hence there is an a priori
selection criterion, determined by the relation between the agent and its environment. This criterion is based on the stability,
homeostasis, capability of counteracting destructive perturbations, ... , of the agent. However, this criterion can only be
applied in a very indirect way to the selection of representational distinctions.
We hence need "mediating" criteria, which would connect the representational
distinctions to the survival-destruction and physical stimuli distinctions. One way to define such a "vicarious" selection
criterion (cfr. Campbell, 1974), is by replacing stability with respect to the physical environment by stability with respect to the representational environment of already given distinctions. A distinction could be considered stable in this sense if it would be conserved by all representational operators,
functions or relations, i.e. if it would be continuously connected to the other distinctions (continuity
can indeed be defined as the conservation of topological distinctions, cfr. Heylighen, 1987a).
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