[Inquiry] Re: Introduction to Inquiry Driven Systems

[Jon Awbrey]

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INT.  Note 4

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1.2.  Initial Approach

The focus of this work will narrow in three steps:

1.  First, I intend to concentrate on the design of
    intelligent software systems that support inquiry.

2.  Next, I will select mathematical systems theory as an
    indispensable tool, both for the analysis of inquiry 
    itself and for the design of programs to support it.

3.  Finally, I plan to develop a theory of qualitative differential equations,
    implement methods for their computation and their solution, and then apply
    the resulting body of techniques to two kinds of recalcitrant problems:

    a.  Situations where an inquiry must begin
        with too little information to justify
        quantitative methods.

    b.  Situations where a complete logical analysis
        is necessary to identify critical assumptions.

The stages of work just described will gradually lead me to introduce the
concept of an "inquiry driven system".  In rough terms, this type of system
is designed to integrate the functions of data-driven adaptive systems and
rule-driven intelligent systems.  The idea is to have a system whose adaptive
transformations are determined, not by learning from observations alone nor by
reasoning from concepts alone, but by the interactions between these two sources
of knowledge.  A system that combines different contributions to its knowledge base,
much less the mixed modes of empirical and rational types of knowledge, will find
that its next problem lies in reconciling the mismatches between these sources.
Thus, we arrive at the concept of an adaptive knowledge-base whose changes over
time are driven by the differences that it encounters between what is observed
in data and what is predicted by laws.  This sounds, at the proper theoretical
distance, like an echo of the error-controlled cybernetic system, moreover, it
falls into line with classic descriptions of scientific inquiry.  Finally, this
suggests that good formulations of such "differences of opinion" might allow us
to find differential laws for the temporal evolution of inquiry processes.

Jon Awbrey

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