Matters

A new post in the glossary: Invariant Representation

Jeff Hawkins describes the concept of Invariant Representation in his book On Intelligence. He uses it in his theory of neocortical function that he titles the Memory Prediction Framework.

Here is a simple notion. Imagine a group of people, say all of your family members. Try to imagine every possible detail of each one. Now try to see all of them in a room or in a huddle. This is like the extension of a set. But now try to eliminate all the details you can while still holding the idea of that group together. What are the minimum conditions that all members satisfy? This is the intension of the set. As you imagine all the details of the group milling about, changing each second, it is apparent that the extension is in motion, in fact, it is constantly changing. The intension is different, once the conception of it is attained, it is still. It is, in fact, invariant. Such is an Invariant Representation. It is a model of something in the world containing only those attributes that stay the same.