RealPatterns is the title of a paper by the philosopher DanielDennett. It was originally published in 1991 in the JournalOfPhilosophy (vol. 88, pages 27-51). The paper was reprinted in Dennett's ''Brainchildren. Essays on Designing Minds'' (MIT Press 1998).

What's it all about?

As I haven't found the time for months now to write a decent summary, here's just a tiny bit: The paper is not about software patterns or patterns in the Alexandrian sense, rather it is concerned with the ontological status ("is something real") of mental states: Are beliefs and desires ''real''? And what does that mean?

To make his point that beliefs are just as real as centers of gravity or calculators and other stuff, Dennett draws heavily on patterns in Conway's GameOfLife.

--MichaelSchuerig
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CategoryPattern