A Classic Problem

Abstract

How you respond to this would depend crucially on when you believe it was written; at this juncture you might glance back at the title page to peek at the publication date. If the passage was written, say, in 1969, you might regard it as a daringly new proposition for its time, heralding what would soon be brilliant efforts in artificial intelligence (AI) programming. If it was written in 1981, you might regard it as somewhat more debatable but still perhaps reflecting the then-current views of mainstream cognitive science. If the passage was written in 1996, it seems downright controversial to the point of orneriness-at the very least, a conclusion like this should acknowledge the problem of reconciling this view with the burgeoning literature in mental imagery (summarized in works like Kosslyn's, 1994, Image and Brain). In point of fact, these sentences were written in 1969-so the most positive interpretation is the appropriate one. But the third edition of the late Herbert Simon's