Maps | General information
(large file!) | Details and
features | Specifications
| Issue areas | Press
release
Methodology | Background
paper | The cartographic
metaphor | Criteria | How
the maps work (large file!)
For Instructors and Students | Importance
of Turing debate | For instructors
| For students | Protagonist
index | FAQS
Commentary and Reviews | Commentary
and reviews | Errata and
corrections
Action Items | Buy the set
of maps | How you can participate
in this debate
Examples | View the maps. | Map
1 | Map 2 | Map
3 | Map 4 | Map
5 | Map 6 | Map
7 | (large files!)
MacroVU home page | Send us a message |
Project
Director's Home Page
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Project
on Consciousness Argumentation Maps Completed
New Genre of Visual Diagrams Investigate
Interdisciplinary debates
Seattle-June, 2000-The innovative Mapping Great Debates series of argumentation maps has a new set of topics, MacroVU, Inc. announced today. The new topic is the interdisciplinary study of consciousness, which project director Robert E. Horn, says is one of the "hot topics for research in the 21st century."
This project was one of 10 selected in the first competition run by the Consciousness Studies Department of the University of Arizona and funded by the Fetzer Institute. "It's overall goal is to "map" the debates arising out of the clash of ideas from many different disciplines that are contributing to consciousness studies research. Those working in the field come from such disciplines as neuropsychology, cognitive science, neurobiology, philosophy, and many others," Horn said.
The basic idea of the argumentation maps is to provide an easy-to-navigate diagrammatic format for tracing the intellectual history and current status of the debates. It is intended for students, researchers, and scholars from all of these disciplines to be able to keep up with the rapidly evolving field. The focus on the debates shows how new concepts, methods, and viewpoints can arise from careful critique of colleagues ideas. "Nobody can keep up with so many different fields," Horn explained. "That is why we have developed this form of portraying important debates." Horn is a visiting scholar at Stanford University's Program on People, Computers, and Design at The Center for the Study of Language and Information. The primary author on the consciousness maps is Paul Livingston, an advanced graduate student at University of California, Irvine.
The first product of the project is Mapping Great Debates:
Can Computers Think?, a set of seven large, colorful diagrams,
measuring 3 x 4 feet each and with text and graphics showing both
the topical and chronological organization of the debate. Horn's
maps display arguments beginning with Alan Turing's 1950 claim
that computers would be capable of thinking and move through over
800 individual claims, rebuttals, and counterrebuttals. Each map
plots an average of 100 major claims, representing the nearly
400 cognitive scientists, philosophers, AI researchers, and mathematicians,
who have weighed into the argument in a significant way. One of
the maps, number 6, served as the jumping off point for the current
project on consciousness. That map summarized the importance of
consciousness in the "Can Computers Think?" debates.
Visually, the maps are groundbreaking. Several hundred icons and
illustrations and about 60 photographs help the reader navigate,
providing easy landmarks and crystal-clear visual representation
of the arguments. A small handbook contains a complete bibliography,
an author index, an introduction to the new mapmaking methodology,
an in-depth exploration of the cartographic metaphor, a discussion
of eleven major criteria for argument selection, and frequently
asked questions.
MacroVU®, Inc. The
Power of Visual Language at Work
321 High School Road NE--Box 366, Bainbridge
Island, WA 98110
info@macrovu.com | www.macrovu.com