{"product_id":"mathematical-models-of-meaning-isbn-9780262552684","title":"Mathematical Models of Meaning","description":"\u003cb\u003eA mathematical model of meaning that captures the dynamics and diversity of meaning-oriented agents.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eMathematical Models of Meaning\u003c\/i\u003e, Paul Kockelman offers answers to the following kinds of questions: What is meaning? What is the relation between meaning, information, value, and purpose? What ingredients are necessary for a system to exhibit meaning? What behaviors, and capacities for behavior, are particular to meaning-oriented agents? Is there a relatively simple mathematical model that can adequately capture the dynamics—and diversity—of meaning-oriented agents? And finally, how can we best bridge the divide between interpretive paradigms that are qualitative and context rich and formal methods that are quantitative and domain general?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePartially grounded in a pragmatist approach, this book rethinks the semiotic, statistical, and logical currents of Charles Sanders Peirce’s thought in relation to more recent developments in allied traditions. Putting possible worlds, as well as social relations, at the center of significance, it focuses on the emergence of meaningful behavior among relatively distributed agents that choose in real time, learn over developmental time, or evolve over phylogenetic time.Contents\u003cbr\u003eList of Figures ix\u003cbr\u003ePreface xiv\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgement xv\u003cbr\u003e1 Introduction\u003cbr\u003eI AGENTS THAT THINK\u003cbr\u003e2 Symptoms and Sickness\u003cbr\u003e3 Predators and Prey\u003cbr\u003eII AGENTS THAT EVOLVE\u003cbr\u003e4 Biosemiotic Agents\u003cbr\u003e5 Hawks, Doves, Mutants\u003cbr\u003eIII AGENTS THAT LEARN\u003cbr\u003e6 Reinforcement Learning\u003cbr\u003e7 Machine Semiosis\u003cbr\u003eIV PRESUPPOSITIONS AND EXTENSIONS\u003cbr\u003e8 Possible World Semiotics\u003cbr\u003e9 Meta-Semiotic Processes\u003cbr\u003e10 Revelation and Confrontation\u003cbr\u003eA Energy and Entropy, Information and Value\u003cbr\u003eB Complexity, Organization, Constraint\u003cbr\u003eC The Utility of a Sign\u003cbr\u003eReferences\u003cbr\u003eIndex“A work of astonishing scope and implication, \u003ci\u003eMathematical Models of Meaning\u003c\/i\u003e bridges qualitative and quantitative methods, linking semiotic phenomena from predator-prey relations and allelic variation to machine learning and meta-semiosis—a brilliant book destined to be read by generations to come.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Greg Urban, Arthur Hobson Quinn Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Can we imagine a Peirce for the twenty-first century? Paul Kockelman would fit the bill. His brilliant, bristling book expands Peircean semiotics to model any agent acting in its surroundings, encompassing evolution and coevolution, rational choice and culture, learning in organisms and machines, possible world semantics, and more. No one contemplating meaning will be left unchallenged by this book or unmoved by its rigor, insight, and breadth.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Gary Tomlinson, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003ePaul Kockelman teaches in the Department of Anthropology at Yale University. He is the author of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Interpretation in the Age of Computation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Anthropology of Intensity\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLast Words: Large Language Models and the AI Apocalypse\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233377202405,"sku":"NP9780262552684","price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262552684.jpg?v=1767732413","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/mathematical-models-of-meaning-isbn-9780262552684","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}