[Inquiry] Re: Prospects for Inquiry Driven Systems

[Jon Awbrey]

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PRO.  Note 31

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1.2.2.2.  Statements, Questions, Commands

When signs are created that can be placed in determinate and reliable
association with the results of observations and the onsets of actions,
these signs are said to "denote" the corresponding events and to "evoke"
the corresponding actions.  In these relationships of association we can
see the beginnings of declarative, imperative, and interrogative uses of
symbolic expressions.

The Interrogative Mood.

1.  The Interrogative mode is associated with
    the residual properties of the state that
    the system occupies at the present moment.

2.  The Question serves to mark a discrepancy
    between the states that are denoted by two
    distinct modes of declarative expressions,
    registering a divergence between Actuality
    and Expectation, that is, between the sets
    of states that are independently declared
    to be Observed and Predicted, respectively.

3.  The Inquisitive use of a sign notes a surprise that demands to be explained,
    usually by adducing signs and expressions of less obvious facts to the account.

4.  A Surprise incites the system to an effort whose end is to bring the system's
    habits of expectation in line with what actually happens on a recurring basis.

The Imperative Mood.

1.  The Imperative mode is associated with the
    convergent possibilities of the states that
    the system may come to occupy in the future.

2.  The Command calls attention to a discrepancy
    between the states that are denoted by two
    distinct modes of declarative expressions,
    registering a divergence between Actuality
    and Intention, that is, between the sets
    of states that are independently declared
    to be Observed and Desired, respectively.

3.  The Injunctive use of a sign sets a problem that requires to be solved,
    usually by executing the actions that are enjoined by a sequence of signs.

4.  A Problem incites the system to an effort whose end is to bring what actually
    happens on a recurring basis into accord with the agent's hopeful anticipations.

The Mix of Moods.

If a problem turns out to be intractable, at least for the forseeable future,
then the prior expectation that the corresponding intention can be fulfilled
may have to be modified by a properly cognizant and deliberate act.  In this
way the different modes of inquiry are often embroiled in intricate patterns
of interaction.

Jon Awbrey

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