Papers by Mike Raymond Wood
This paper is a response to and offers supporting analysis for Tony Atkinson's and Thomas Piketti... more This paper is a response to and offers supporting analysis for Tony Atkinson's and Thomas Piketti's claim that only rigorous Government intervention can slow the pace of the otherwise ineluctable growth in wealth inequality,which if left unchecked, is likely to have catastrophic consequences for society. The paper shows analytically, through simulation that an unequal distribution of wealth (typically the norm in industrial or post industrial society) according to the Pareto curve will, over time, lead to further massive inequalities of wealth.
This paper is a response to and offers supporting analysis for Gary Stevenson's (and Thomas Piket... more This paper is a response to and offers supporting analysis for Gary Stevenson's (and Thomas Piketti's) claim that only rigorous Government intervention can slow the pace of the otherwise ineluctable growth in wealth inequality,which,if left unchecked is likely to have catastrophic consequences for society. The paper shows analytically through simulation that an unequal distribution of wealth (typically the norm in industrial or post industrial society) according to the Pareto curve will, over time, lead to further massive inequalities od wealth. However a small redistribution of wealth from the very richest will have the effect of slowing inequality growth. The simulation analysis is supported by an analysis of wealth inequality growth in the USA and UK between 1950 and 2020. The paper concludes with briefly reviewing the celebrated an analysis of Piketti which tells a similar story by different means
Cognition and the world are interdependently originated via the living body. Sec-ond, the nervous... more Cognition and the world are interdependently originated via the living body. Sec-ond, the nervous system is accordingly understood as an adaptively autonomous dynamical system: it actively generates and maintains its own coherent and meaningful patterns of activity, according to its operation as a self-organizing network of interacting neurons The Embodied
This paper suggests that The Izhikevich Classification of Spiking Neurons provides some support f... more This paper suggests that The Izhikevich Classification of Spiking Neurons provides some support for the Fodor Language of thought hypothesis. Izhikevich posits that Bifurcation theory from nonlinear dynamics limits the number of possible neuron firing patterns to four. I argue that despite the neuron structure in the brain being an enormously complex network one could theoretically extract an arbitrary path from the network. This would comprise a string of neurons and edges (synapses). Each neuron is capable of firing in up to four different ways. The neurons fire in sequence giving rise to some sort of star operation 1. Thus there is a finite alphabet of firing patterns which are concatenated as the neurons traverse the path. This essentially represents a regular language 2 (one would need to postulate an associated Finite State Machine). There is some tentative empirical evidence of a connection between neuron firing patterns and formal languages but I do not discuss that here.
single function objects: Notebooks, calculators, abacuses, maps, and so on demonstrate a fairly s... more single function objects: Notebooks, calculators, abacuses, maps, and so on demonstrate a fairly straightforward way of extending the mind and its capabilities. They, if you like, hold information "off line" which the mind can access as required. All of the information and procedures held in such simple devices could, at a stretch, be held by the mind, in the Brain. This extension is more questionable in the case of computational devices like mobile phones or laptops, Using these is more akin to a collaboration with another autonomous device rather than the phone being a simple extension of the mind. This difference is likely to be extended further as AI technology is increasingly incorporated into phones and similar devices.
This paper explores the continuing arms race and conflict in the Middle East, focusing on the con... more This paper explores the continuing arms race and conflict in the Middle East, focusing on the conflict between Israel, on the one hand and Hamas, Hezbollah.and ultimately Iran on the other The situation has been almost classically zero-sum from its inception around 1948 (arguably even before then, going back to the early 1900s) between Militant Islam on the one side and militant Zionism on the other.
Nature we explain , mental life we understand" Dilthey "First of all, phenomenology is a way of v... more Nature we explain , mental life we understand" Dilthey "First of all, phenomenology is a way of viewing ourselves, of viewing others, and of viewing all else that comes in contact with our lives. In this sense, it is a system of interpretation that helps us perceive and conceive ourselves, our contacts and interchanges with others, and everything else within the realm of our experiences." Wagner "In the case of social collectivities, precisely as distinguished from organisms, we are in a position to go beyond merely demonstrating functional relationships and uniformities. We can accomplish something which is never attainable in the natural sciences, namely the subjective understanding of the action of the component individuals." Max Weber, Economy and Society
Alfred Schutz attempted to shore up the foundations of Weber's Action Theory to overcome what he ... more Alfred Schutz attempted to shore up the foundations of Weber's Action Theory to overcome what he (Schutz) perceived as philosophical defects. This relaying of the philosophical foundations incorporated ideas from Henri Bergson, William James and perhaps most importantly Husserl, from his later work on the crises of Science and the Lebenswelt. How successful was this effort? This paper sets out a brief philosophical history of Action theory from Schleiermacher through Dilthey to Rickert and Max Weber. Arguably the differences between Dilthey and the Neo Kantians (Windlebaum and Rickert especially) marks a (possibly the) major bifurcation in the social sciences between Naturalism and Historicism.
This short speculative note inquires into the question as to whether AI computational models of t... more This short speculative note inquires into the question as to whether AI computational models of the brain (LLMs most prominently) and neuroscience and computational neuroscience could eventually unify into a comprehensive theory of the brain and mind. True integration isn't trivial. The brain isn't just a computer; it's a living, adapting, and dynamic system deeply intertwined with physiology and the environment. One way of reconciling the two would be to employ the methodology developed by David Marr whereby a high level conceptual model (level) articulated by an algorithmic model or models could be mapped down onto a dynamic (although in this context the objective would be to hypothesis how the dynamic model would actually perform the algorithmic layer. I conclude with an enormous number of open issues.
This note starts by pointing out the differences between mind independent entities which are out ... more This note starts by pointing out the differences between mind independent entities which are out there (are real) and Rortian arguments which suggest that they are not. The essential externality or referential basis of first order logic semantics is emphasised. Rortyian objections are raised: "Truth" and "Falsehood" are attributes of sentences, not of real world phenomena. Truth as correspondence has some plausibility with simple declarative sentences but not with typical sentences of a natural language. I briefly flesh out the argument that Logic, in its current state, is happiest with declarative statements and that whether such statements are true is judgeable.
What follows assumes that a complex nonlinear networked dynamical system affords a more plausible... more What follows assumes that a complex nonlinear networked dynamical system affords a more plausible representation of brain functionality than does computation. Detailed analysis of the neuron shows basic incompatibilities with a computational model.
From whence come morals and values into the world. I suggest that Rawl's methodology in a theory ... more From whence come morals and values into the world. I suggest that Rawl's methodology in a theory of justice asks too much of the rational choosers behind the veil of ignorance they cannot but fail to bring their culture with them. Looking at other possibilities in proposals from Ken Binmore and Bryan Skryms I suggest that reciprocity, direct and indirect, Nash, ESS and the replicator dynamic reveal a much more complex world than is dreamed of in their philosophy. A world with stable memes but also one of oscillation multiple competitive stable points hence a world of continuing competition.
There is a planet, far from Earth, whose surface is covered by a vast, living ocean. It does not ... more There is a planet, far from Earth, whose surface is covered by a vast, living ocean. It does not speak, yet it listens. It does not move with tides, yet it pulses with intention. In Stanisław Lem's Solaris, this sentient sea responds to human presence not with words, but with uncanny manifestations-memories made flesh, emotions given form. The ocean is not a metaphor for the mind. It is a mind: fluid, alien, and endlessly in motion. Now imagine shrinking that planet. Compress its ocean until it fits inside a human skull. What remains is a metaphor-and perhaps a model-for how thought itself unfolds: not in discrete steps, but in waves, flares, and ripples across a dynamic surface of meaning.
How does consciousness arise from systems governed by logic, noise, and semantic flux? This paper... more How does consciousness arise from systems governed by logic, noise, and semantic flux? This paper proposes a novel framework that blends phenomenological semantics with dynamic neural field theory, offering a layered simulation architecture for modeling ambiguity resolution, identity formation, and meaning emergence. Drawing from Montague semantics, attractor dynamics, and philosophical critiques of selfhood, the paper articulates a vision of meaning not as static reference but as dynamic trajectory-a ripple moving across semantic fields, resisting disruption and seeking coherence. Consciousness, reframed here, is treated as the stabilization of these semantic flare events through neural coupling and temporal integration. 1 1 ¹ Collaborative Note: This paper was co-constructed through real-time collaboration between human insight and AI scaffolding. While authorship belongs to Mike Wood, the structure, phrasing, and computational modeling were developed in tandem with Microsoft Copilot. This emerging model of human-synthetic partnership demonstrates that AI can meaningfully contribute to intellectually rich projects. Far beyond rote tasks, such collaboration has proven both possible and highly productive-this paper, alongside a conceptual framework for a book, was drafted in under a day.
This is a short exercise in using nonlinear time series analysis (NLTS) to assess the fit of a dy... more This is a short exercise in using nonlinear time series analysis (NLTS) to assess the fit of a dynamic nonlinear macro economic process, the Goodwin model, against "realworld" nonlinear time series.
Abstract:The aim of what follows is to give a straightforward account of Weber's work and philoso... more Abstract:The aim of what follows is to give a straightforward account of Weber's work and philosophical position aimed at the non specialist. To begin I will discuss Weber’s background in Neo Kantian philosophy and methodology and his “dialogue” with Marx which leads up to the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism This is followed by a methodological discussion and a brief account of Weber’s Sociology of Religion. I conclude with an account of Weber on Politics and Social Stratification and the development of “Weberian Marxism”
What turns a jolt of neural activity into the raw feeling of pain? When you step barefoot on some... more What turns a jolt of neural activity into the raw feeling of pain? When you step barefoot on something sharp, your nerves fire in rapid, ordered patterns-like biological Morse code. But here's the mystery: Why does that electric storm feel like something? This paper explores a new angle on the "hard problem" of consciousness by blending philosophy, neuroscience, and a bit of math. It proposes that spike trains-the rhythmic signals neurons use to talk-aren't just electric noise. They might carry meaning, much like sentences do, with their own syntax and semantics. Using ideas from formal logic and Montague semantics, I suggest that your brain doesn't just fireit composes. Pain, location, texture: all get stitched together into a unified experiential map. By modeling this with dynamic neural fields, we can begin to simulate how spikes turn into stories-and how the brain might mean the pain it feels. This reframes consciousness not as a ghost in the machine, but as an emergent property of structured, semantic integration.
What follows is an attempt to view (elementary) game theory through the prism of recent developme... more What follows is an attempt to view (elementary) game theory through the prism of recent developments in philosophy of mathematics. In particular, if a model (in the sense of model theory)on an appropriate domain can be constructed from a formal theory and it can be established that homomorphic mappings between model structures are possible then such a manoeuvre undermines the Realistic case for solution concepts since it makes the denotation of such concepts problematic since the denotation ceases to be unique. This creates philosophical problems within the Philosophy of mathematics which affects communities of mathematicians working in particular mathematical areas. (Groups,Rings,Vector Spaces,Graphs and so on) However when it comes to game theory, problematic denotation affects not only Professionals (mathematicians, economists, game theorists) but also 'ordinary' people in the real world who interact with each other in social contexts amenable to game theoretic analysis
This paper reviews successive attempts to derive a formal system from the propositions of Homans ... more This paper reviews successive attempts to derive a formal system from the propositions of Homans in "The Human Group" Simon in a paper "A formal theory of interaction in social groups" ASR 1952 1 aimed to formalise these empirical propositions as a (what we would call now) dynamical system. But despite its obvious brilliance, problems remained with the difficulty of operationalising the variables and providing a functional form to the equations in the nonlinear case. However in other developments Colemn, in "Introduction to Mathematical Sociology" introduced a family of linear Markovian stochastic differential equations to the study of social, especially polling, data. White in a paper "Simon out of Homans by Coleman" applied the Coleman approach to Simon's model moving from a potential dynamical system to Markovian discrete state continuous time stochastic differential Equations This addressed the measurement problem but the results are still linear.This paper picks up the story of continuing the spirit of Simon's work whilst allaying it to hopefully a more viable dynamical system in the form of the Replicator Dynamic (Taylor and Jonker) in Evolutionary Game theory A phase portrait and timeline for an evolution solution based upon Simons work are simulated. Issues in translating from Simons variables to EGT strategies are discussed.
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Papers by Mike Raymond Wood