Indie R&D 5

​A gathering for independent researchers and toolmakers who are bootstrapping their own R&D outside institutions. We share tools for thought, pool compute, and ship joint artifacts together.

​Session 5: Smoke-Test the PKM

​Your tools augment your cognition. We'll run a battery of tests against them, designed from how the brain actually works and apply it against something real.

• ​5 min - skim the reading (please review the papers beforehand)

• ​20 min - co-sketch the test battery, pen and paper

  • ​you'll be provided with a set of cognitive functions from the reading

  • ​devise a simple input -> output test for one modality ie. what goes in, what comes out, what counts as passing

• ​20 min - independently derive a solution tailored to the problem you receive, using your research tool

• ​15 min - reconvene and see what holds up

​By the end of this session you'll have a sense of what your tool does well, where it breaks under load, and tests you can run against down the road.

​Bring your research tools.

​Reading

​Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. (1998). The extended mind

​Kirsh, D., & Maglio, P. (1994). On distinguishing epistemic from pragmatic action

​Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild: ch2, ch3, ch9

​Fit if you are

• ​SWE by day, indie researcher by night

• ​PhD student pushing past your discipline

• ​Toolmaker building for thought

• ​Citizen scientist in an unorthodox field

• ​Anyone curious about deep inquiry