CAUTION: The Sender of this email is not from within Dalhousie. Dear All, Happy New Year :-) I thought you might find the upcoming seminar by Professor Andrée Ehresmann interesting. thanking you, yours truly, posina ====================================================================== Andrée Ehresmann MENS: a categorical model for Emergence and Consciousness Abstract: How do mental processes up to consciousness arise from the functioning of the brain? That is the question raised in MENS, an application to neuro-cognitive systems of the categorical model MES [1]. It is constructed as a Hierarchical Evolutive System having for level 0 the Evolutive System Neur (= sheaf of 'neural categories'). Its higher level components, called cat(egory)-neurons, are constructed via successive complexification processes of Neur. A cat-neuron represents a 'mental object' modeled as the colimit of a neural pattern it may activate; it has multiple "physical realizabilities" due to Edelman's "degeneracy of the neural code", which we model by the 'Multiplicity Principle'. This MP allows studying emergent properties in MENS and showing they support an "emergentist reductionism" (in the sense of Mario Bunge). MP also allows for the development of a Neurophenomenology (in the sense of Varela). The dynamic of MENS is controlled by a network of 'co-regulators', each operating on its own landscape. Through successive complexificaions they develop a robust though flexible Memory, with a higher level, the Archetypal Core. This AC plays a main role for consciousness by allowing the formation of a "Global Workshop" in which a retrospection/prospection process can detect conscious events. [1] Ehresmann & Vanbremeersch, Memory Evolutive Systems, Elsevier 2007 Andrée Ehresmann is Emeritus Professor at the 'Universiité de Picardie Jules Verne' (where she was Professor since 1968), attached to its LAMFA (CNRS Unit). She is a pure mathematician, with an initial formation in Analysis and Control systems where she introduced categorical methods. In the late 60's she developed, together with Charles Ehresmann (her late husband), sketch theory and internal (e.g. multiple) categories. Since the 90's she has been developing the 'Memory Evolutive Systems' (MES) together with Jean-Paul Vanbremeersch (a physician), a categorical model for dynamic hierarchical multi-agent systems such as biological or social systems. MENS is an application of MES to neuro-cognitive systems. This talk will take place on Friday, January 22 15:00 Berlin Time Link to join the meeting: https://lmu-munich.zoom.us/j/6504653291?pwd=TE5aZWFRa0Z0NkRjZFIvSWdtazZqQT09 Meeting password: 935244 When joining for the first time, please read our how to join information. If you're having problems when joining, please refer to the troubleshooting information you can find on the same page. Our mailing address is: Mathematical Consciousness Science Online Seminar Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1 Munich 80539 Germany [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]