Embodied intentional dynamics of bacterial behaviour

Abstract

Existing (embodied) chemical models of bacteria are rather complex, due to the thousands of interacting chemical reactions within the cell. To gain a higher level of understanding, more transparent and, thus more abstract, models are needed. Intentional models are sometimes advocated to gain transparent models of complex dynamical systems. However, a main problem with intentional models is the symbol grounding problem: the gap between the symbolic, discrete binary decision processes and the continuous flow of chemical reactions in physical reality. In this paper an intentional modelling approach based on continuous time is introduced and used to simulate the behaviour of E. Coli. The model is grounded in physical reality by precisely defined relationships to the chemistry. The intentionalisation approach followed here is relevant in general, not only for biochemistry. In general, our approach enables the incorporation of real continuous time in intentional (BDI) models.