COMMENT ⊗   VALID 00002 PAGES
C REC  PAGE   DESCRIPTION
C00001 00001
C00002 00002	.CB BEHAVIOR AS DETERMINED BY CIRCUMSTANCES RATHER THEN BY PERSONALITY
C00008 ENDMK
C⊗;
.CB BEHAVIOR AS DETERMINED BY CIRCUMSTANCES RATHER THEN BY PERSONALITY


	We want to distinguish two things that determine behavior of a
human or an animal or a Martian or even a robot.  Partly, behavior is
determined by the nature of the beast, i.e., in the case of humans, by the
personality.  This aspect of human behavior has been thoroughly studied
even if conclusive results haven't been established.  However, in many
situations, behavior is determined by the objective character of the
situation and would be the same for an animal, Martian or robot, merely
given a similarity of objective, e.g. survival, an a sufficiency of means,
e.g. intellect.  We may summarize this case under the slogan, %2"It will
do what it thinks will achieve its goal"%1.

	The object of this note is to study the circumstantial aspects
of behavior rather than those aspects that are determined by the
specific internal structure of the behaver.  Thus we will study those
aspects of situations that determine the same behavior for humans with
different personalities and will also determine the same behavior for
intelligent robots in similar circumstances when they are given similar
goals.

	Within circumstance-directed behavior, we can distinguish physical
and mental circumstances.  It is easier to understand that hollow bones
are required for flight than that it is often intellectually necessary
to classify other people as friends or foes rather than attempt to achieve
a more subtle understanding.

	It seems to me that neglect of the circumstantial
determinants of behavior has
led to scientists into error.  For example, 
Chomsky (1974) attributes the fact that the constituents of a sentence
are all capable of being compounds rather than just single words to
a specific genetic characteristic of the human language capability.
He does not discuss the possibility that this aspect of language
is required by the circumstance that an intelligent being must often
refer to new objects and actions that cannot possibly have single
word names, especially names that are known to both speaker
and hearer.  Since an ape must also react to objects that
cannot have pre-existing names in its experience, its ability to
distinguish such objects from each other internally must also result
in an ability to refer to them by compounds in American Sign Language -
if it is to refer to them at all.

	More generally, when one attempts to find explanations
in terms of personality for behavior that is actually determined 
by circumstances, one is likely to produce complex and even far-fetched
theories.  Therefore, some understanding of the circumstantial aspects
of behavior is a necessary foundation for studying personality.
The motivation of this point of view comes from artificial intelligence.
When we study how to make a machine that can achieve goals, it often
turns out that the circumstances require us to build in mechanisms
that might have been regarded as accidental by products of human
evolution.

Notes:
	Need a better physical example than hollow bones.  Put off
Chomsky critique and make it precise with a quote from Reflections ... .

	Elaborate the intellectual necessity for often classifying
phenomena as good or bad.