On The Nature Of Time In Conceptual And Computational Nervous Systems

The central premise of the present paper is that the spectacular failure to create a fully functional artificial intelligence results from a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of time in relation to living systems. Unlike the sterile and purely chronometric conception that is subsumed in the central, clock referent system of most current computational machines, intelligence and especially human intelligence is erected on a tri-level, integrated system of temporal processing capacities. Here, I present the fundamental nature and manner of integration of these three, evolution-driven mechanisms which help life cope with the vagaries of uncertain but not totally unpredictable environments. The implications for the development of effective artificially-intelligent machines are discussed. © 2007 Brill Academic Publishers