Biological Machines
THE FUTURE OF SCENT:
COMPUTATIONAL SYSTEMS & MARKING DIFFERENCE IN SCENT-MARKING SPECIES
(Statement of Purpose: Society for the Study of Evolution)
Nathaniel Bobbitt (eye at nabslab.com)
By spending as much time on the symbol as others do on the expression of symbols I pursue two principles: 1) we are no better than the near to far relationships we use, and 2) biological entities function as excitable boundary systems. The biological is a superb diaphragm to express relationships and to consider features and transitions. Scent-marking species possess a faculty capable of filtration and the depositing of multi-component odors under changing seasonal and spatial conditions. The cognitive architecture of scent-marking species acts as a biological machine. Scent-marking species stand to computation as the carrier-pigeon to communication. This premise becomes clear when the manufacture of scent is the focus of scent-marking research. Otherwise scent-marking research studies detection to the detriment of the spatial organization evident in the manufacture-sensing interface evident in scent-marking. Why scents? These chemical concoctions stand as a symbolic layer in a bio- computational system. I see scent-marking species endowed with a cognitive architecture based on filtration and manufacture. Scent-marking takes place at two divergent scales: transduction of gene signals and the chemosensory output. My goal is to study the multiple facets of scent: filtration, manufacture, and the cognitive architecture of scent-marking species. I do so fulfilling my two principles by using a multi-resolution model to describe scent-marking in general and to incubate activity associated with scent-marking. Each step of the way I will need to arrive at a cladistic analysis through comparative assessment of species within evolutionary conditions (convergence, parallel, and lineal inheritance). Primates are my primary model while rodents, mammals, and invertebrates target unique aspects of research effort. In my McNair research project I will develop protocols to data mine large genomic repositories to accelerate my future research cycle.
Along the way I hope to receive graduate training through appropriate environments such as the Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training. I anticipate my efforts will advance the study of multi-modal symbols (gene & chemosensory) through a biological framework. Thus, I bring biological symbols to cognitive research symbols freed of natural language. Thereby, producing a biological computing machine that drives: 1) computation and language 2) thought and language. The purpose of this machine is to suggest models on how humans can behaviorally integrate gene activity and cognition. Thus, by studying scent-marking species I come to my research goal and fulfill the two stated principles.