4
Humans are thinking creatures. The tiger is stronger and even the average dog faster. Only
by applying our intellectual capacities have we conquered the sky, the earth, and the water. We
have neither wings nor claws. Yet we observe and understand everything from galaxies to
gluons. We do this with our brains. For all our mastery, however, we are still far from
understanding what sits in our skulls – the very thing that enables us to understand anything.
Cognitive Science is not the study of the brain per se. Rather it is best described as the study
of the nature of thinking, the problem of consciousness, the mystery of how mentality and all our
many intelligences arise from the nervous system.
It is truly an interdisciplinary field, drawing from neuroscience, philosophy, psychology,
linguistics, computer science, biology, and anthropology. As long as they are working toward
understanding the nature of intelligence, a person in any of these fields can be considered a
“cognitive scientist”. It is not my goal, of course, to try to master all of them. The major I am
creating falls under the Cognitive Science umbrella, but it has a specific focus. I am using
Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Computer Science. The latter is the key. I believe that the mind
can be understood as a complex machine-like system. I think the brain is like a computer – not
the kind we know, the kind I’m using now – but as a system which operates according to certain
logical principles best equated to those of a computer.
Thus I would say essentially that my major is about understanding the “mind”. That means I
am indeed learning about the brain and its biology, but it also means I am learning about
principles of computation insofar as they can be applied toward understanding the mind.
It is preferable to studying a combination of, say, Neuroscience and Computer Science
because those majors each emphasize something different than what I am trying to get at.
Neuroscience is primarily physiological, emphasizing cell structure and function and the biology
of the brain. It also requires lab sciences which do not relate to the goal of this major, and are
especially unnecessary given that I do not plan to go to med school. Computer Science as a
major emphasizes programming for user applications, not the programming for research that I
am interested in. Indeed Prof. DiLillo, my advisor from Computer Science, has pointed out that
several of the required courses for the Computer Science major do not relate to Artificial
Intelligence or Cognitive Modeling.
The reason Cognitive Science pulls me as an academic and intellectual pursuit is because it
satisfies a number of my natural curiosities and propensities. I am naturally multi-curious and it
draws from multiple disciplines. I like seeing the big picture rather than the details, and it deals
with high-level abstractions and systems. Neuroscience fascinates me but only in part; while I
respect and enjoy the study of individual neurons, electro-chemical properties, and biological
components of the nervous system, what I’m truly interested in is how these parts come together
to form a whole. Finally, though I admit I still am unsure of my “life goals” and career plans, the
extraordinary implications this field has for the real world: I believe that Artificial Intelligence
will become a very real phenomenon in the decades to come. Surely there will always be
controversy as to whether or not a computer can “think” as a human does. But as the gap in
ability and complexity between human and machine erodes, so will the distinction between
“Intelligence” and “Artificial” Intelligence.
5
As I said, I am unsure of my career goals. My goal is to earn a liberal arts education,
learning critical thinking, writing, study habits, and a deeper understanding of something that
interests me.
As a matter of fact I believe this IIM will be exceptionally good for advancing these abilities.
As an interdisciplinary study it requires one to examine a single problem from multiple
perspectives. Furthermore, it takes discipline, rational thinking, and thoroughness to engage in
scientific thinking. While I am not trying to do lab science or research, I am attempting to take
the techniques of Computer Science and apply them toward a scientific problem. Furthermore,
there is creativity in finding logical solutions to complex problems; there is ingenuity in
inventing methods of testing perceived phenomena. Most importantly, there is a spirit of mutual
respect, cooperation, and healthy competition in the scientific community, all of which I am
learning and absorbing by engaging in this type of study.
I do have plans to take on another major in addition to this IIM. All my life I have been
passionate about Film, and so I would truly regret it if I did not take advantage of its recent
expansion into a major. I was already declared a minor and had taken several courses when this
happened, and I believe I can readily complete a major.
This brings me to the courses I have chosen for this major, which I will now discuss by the
departments they fall under:
Philosophy courses relevant to Cognitive Science include Philosophy of Mind and
Consciousness, Brain, & Self, both of which are taught by Jerry Samet, who is my advisor from
Philosophy on my committee. I have taken both courses, and am now a TA in the former, and
can assert with confidence that they have taught me to approach the idea of the mind with an
open mind, forced to really think about what it means to think, and showed me different theories
philosophers and cognitive scientists have of explaining consciousness and intelligence. Intro to
Philosophy served as a background course in philosophy.
In Neuroscience, I have taken Intro to Behavioral Neuroscience, with my primary IIM
advisor Don Katz, Intro to Cognitive Neuroscience, and Human Neuropsychology. All of these
are relevant as they teach what the brain’s functional components are and what they do.
Different brain areas are responsible for different aspects of information processing: vision,
language, motor function, etc. In order to understand what constitutes “intelligence” it is
absolutely essential to become familiar with these processes. I do not know if I can take NPSY
140b, Principles of Neuroscience, because it requires biology, which requires chemistry, neither
of which I am taking. Perhaps I might request permission from the instructor to take it, but I do
not think it is essential to my major in any case. The course is about the very details of neural
processing – neurochemical transmission, neuron biology, and so forth – but Cognitive Science
is about the high-level processing that occurs as a result of neural networks, not about the
function of individual cells.
Indeed there are two more important Neuroscience offerings which address exactly that:
Cognitive Modeling and Computational Neuroscience. These courses approach the mind from
the perspective I talked about early: that the brain can be understood as a complex system like a
computer
6
That leaves Computer Science. I have taken 11a, 21a, and 22a as background courses. The
courses I am primarily interested in are Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence, Computational
Cognitive Science, and Computational Linguistics. These courses explore the ways
programming can be used to simulate intelligence, cognitive processes, and language. Discrete
Structures is also necessary; it is included in just about every cognitive science curriculum I’ve
found from other schools, and is a prerequisite for classes like Artificial Intelligence at Brandeis.
There is additionally the option of taking electives, so to speak, from Psychology and/or
Linguistics. I have noted a couple of these courses in the Alternate Courses section. These
courses are comparable to electives offered in Cognitive Science departments at other schools.
Here I think I should also mention my plans to study abroad. By speaking with my IIM
committee, as well as advisors from the study abroad office, I have determined that it will be
possible to not only fulfill my course of study while abroad but even enhance it. I have narrowed
it down to two universities: the “Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science” program at the
University of Edinburgh, and Australia National University, where renowned philosopher of
mind David Chalmers runs the Centre for Consciousness. I have listed example courses from
both universities in my proposal.
Courses at those schools include Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Modeling, which I thus
believe I could take as equivalents to the same Brandeis courses. There are other courses at
those school not offered here but which would be highly valuable, such as a fascinating course at
ANU called “System Architectural Understanding and the Human Brain”, which compares the
hierarchical makeup of processing in the brain to that of a computer. I have included
information about these programs in this packet.
The Cognitive Science major at other schools is typically available in different tracks (akin to
the IGS major here). At Berkeley, for example, Cognitive Science majors may concentrate in
Cognitive Psychology, Computational Modeling, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Society Culture
and Cognition. At Johns Hopkins, the Cognitive Science department has five areas: Cognitive
Psychology and Neuropsychology, Linguistics, Computational Approaches to Cognition,
Philosophy of Mind, and Neuroscience. These specializations are optional, but they do indicate
that my choice to specifically focus on Computation is valid and comparable to what other
schools offer.
I have evaluated the Cognitive Science majors available at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, UC-San
Diego, Northwestern, and Brown (where my very own primary advisor Don Katz did the major),
and included information about those programs here. My goal was to emulate as much as
possible using Brandeis and study abroad courses. If there are any changes the IIM committee
feels I should make I am more than open to doing so. I do plan to attend the committee meeting
so that I can give a presentation and answer questions, and work with the committee to discuss
any changes that may need to be made. I am truly excited about the prospect of doing Cognitive
Science and it is with great enthusiasm that I hereby submit it for approval.