carlos-m.net

I wrote this during the first semester of my senior year at Johns Hopkins University for Minds, Brains and Computers with Dr. Paul Smolensky.

Carlos Macasaet
13 December 2004
050.109 – Final Paper

The ultimate chapter of Haugeland’s Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea addresses the issue of artificial intelligence from a psychological perspective. That is, it attacks the same problem from the opposite direction as the preceding chapters. It starts with real people as its goal and works backwards, theorising about how one may conceptualise certain aspects of human mental functioning that are not immediately relevant to the problem of cognition. Many problems that involve artificial intelligence approaches to a solution such as speech and handwriting recognition do not require one to implement concepts such as emotion or self-concept into the system in order to solve the problem successfully. However, these are concepts that are important to intelligence that have so far been left out of artificial intelligence research either because of their irrelevance to specific problems or because no way has been found to model such concepts.

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This was part of my final portfolio for Fiction and Poetry Writing II with Amy Eisner.

Carlos Macasaet
7 December 2004
220.106 - Final Portfolio

The demitasse
cylindrical
single arm akimbo
waiting

The vermouth
barely there
dry
subtle aroma
of white grapes
spices
and oak
ready to give
selflessly
all that she is

At last your essence
dripping impatiently
to join your bittersweet sister
your aroma consumes the air
this is your moment
nothing exists
but your full-bodied darkness
beneath caramel-coloured foam

This was part of my final portfolio for Fiction and Poetry Writing II with Amy Eisner.

Carlos Macasaet
7 December 2004
220.106 – Final Portfolio

We were watching television. The two of us sitting on the floor with our arms behind us, to prop up our backs. Lili got up and asked me if I wanted anything from the kitchen. She came back with a glass of water. No ice. She sipped while we watched videos on VH1. They were showing the most popular videos of the 1990’s. We were on 1994. She leaned over me to place her glass on the side table, then settled back down right next to me, leaning her shoulder into mine ever so slightly. I put my arm across her back and she rested her head on my shoulder.

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This was part of my final portfolio for Fiction and Poetry Writing II with Amy Eisner.

Carlos Macasaet
7 December 2004
220.106 – Final Portfolio

The sun was setting when I brought the patio table inside. As soon as I turned around to get the chairs, the cat dashed out. He turned his head to glance at me one last time before jumping off the terrace. Our flat was on the first floor of the building, so it was not much of a drop. When I looked outside, he was gone. In one direction, there was a road that ran past several other apartment complexes and led to a busier main street. In the other direction, there was an orchard that served as a common backyard for several of the condominiums and townhouses. I hoped he had chosen to run off in that direction. I ran out after him, but I could find no trace of him. This would be easier to do in the morning. I put out his water and food bowls as well as the small bamboo tree that he loved to chew on then went to bed.

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This was part of my final portfolio for Fiction and Poetry Writing II with Amy Eisner.

Carlos Macasaet
7 December 2004
200.106 – Final Portfolio

A foreigner was caught trespassing on the palace grounds last month. His neck did not bear the number that uniquely identifies all living citizens of the state. He carried no papers and he spoke no language that anyone could understand. He was promptly arrested and my supervisor, citizen 392332, put me in charge of his incarceration. He would be the first prisoner to be entirely in my charge. At first, I thought this was a test because a citizen in my range is not usually permitted such responsibilities. Perhaps my superiors suspected me of plotting against the state and wanted to observe me closer. Perhaps they wanted to make sure I was not shirking my duties and so they brought in a spy, who carefully concealed the identification number that usually shows prominently on the back of the neck and uniquely identifies each living citizen. I had heard of such things being done before. With treason on the rise, the state has had more reason to spy on its citizens. I also know that certain high-ranking citizens use a technique to conceal their identification numbers when they travel abroad. However, it is impossible to conceal the markings permanently and they begin to show again within a month’s time. I dismissed the notion that he might be a spy when I realised that all of the higher-ranking citizens that worked in the prisons had their hands full now that our prisons housed nearly a third of the state’s population. Either way, it was quite an honour to have a prisoner of my own. I would treat this matter with the utmost care and attention to detail.

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