CogSci Meeting

[Donald A Norman-UCSD Cog Sci Dept]

In fairness to the Cognitive Science society. And why we need a strong
connectionist showing at the society meetings.

Each year, the conference is held in a different location, run by
volunteers who must spend a considerable amount of time and energy to
organize things.  As partial payment for the effort, the Society gives the
organizers a good deal of latitude on the structure of the conference.

We welcomed the overture from MIT to hold a conference, especially
since in the west pole/east pole split in the science, MIT folks
(prototype east polers) tended to ignore the conference and society:
having MIT sponsor the conference was seen as a positive step toward
including all views of cognitive science in the society.

(Note that connectionists are viewed with alarm and suspicion by east
polers -- if they are viewed at all (the preference would be that
you--we-- would all go away).  And since the Cog Sci conference has
become a major place for substantive connectionist reports on science
(as opposed to techniques, methodology, and engineering applications),
again, having MIT host the conference is a wonderful opportunity.)

HOWEVER: there were severe problems and conflicts in getting the
conference going.  It almost got scrubbed, except that by the time the
Society was informed of the problems, it was too late to find another
host.  Dave Rumelhart played a major role in getting things smoothed
over and getting the conference on track again.  It now does look like
we have a conference.

The scheduling problems and the balance of programs and the other
apparent mishaps seem minor incidents in the attempt to make the
Cognitive Science Society's conference a major scientific forum for
all views in the substantive study of cognition.   

Please do attend: connectionism promises to revolutionize our views of
cognition (I know, many of you think it already has), but both you
folks and the others need to interact so that we can better explore
the experimental phenomena and the theoretical alternatives.

don norman

(Disclaimer: I am a member of the Governing Board of the Society, but
I have played very little role in this conference.  The current chair
of the society is Dave Rumelhart: give him the credits, and save the
complaints for others.  Remember: would YOU want to host a large,
complex conference?  (And if the answer is yes, then by all means
volunteer, after making sure that you have sufficient meeting rooms,
hotel and dorm rooms, and local support.)


Don Norman                         	       INTERNET:  dnorman at ucsd.edu
Department of Cognitive Science D-015	       BITNET:    dnorman at ucsd
University of California, San Diego	       AppleLink: d.norman
La Jolla, California 92093 USA                 FAX:       (619) 534-1128