[Inquiry] Re: Introduction to Inquiry Driven Systems

[Jon Awbrey]

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INTRO.  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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inquiry e-lab: http://stderr.org/pipermail/inquiry/
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