The Deep History of Deep Learning… Part I
Concepts that are not completely unrelated to Deep Thought
Close to two and a half millennia ago, the world’s most interesting man decided that people needed a tool for learning. He created the Organon, which means “tool”. In it, Aristotle captured the key principles of learning taught to him by Plato and Socrates. It was the backbone of more science than we can detail here, as well as a blueprint for education, logic, debate, and analytics.
Thankfully, we have the writing of this great thinker and philosopher to draw on. Although it is unclear what Aristotle intended the Organon to be, as his untimely run in with the court of Athens, a preemptive exile, and a suspiciously deadly stomach disease left the publication and naming of his work to others. It would take more than three centuries for his followers to get things together.
The peripatetics, as his followers were called, were initially named for Aristotle’s habit of walking the gardens of the Lyceum while teaching. After his death, they became even greater wanderers, popping in an out of recorded history for the next six centuries. Given that Greece had declared their leader an enemy of the state, it is hard to blame them. They would reappear years later during the Roman Empire before traveling Eastward to find a home among the nomadic tribes of the Middle East.
Aristotle’s tools would continue to develop among the new peripatetic philosophers among the Arabs, beginning with Al-Kindi and moving ever westward before arriving in Cordoba with Ibn Rushd. It was a journey that took more than a millennium and is interwoven with the development of Islamic law and philosophy. Much like Aristotle, its adherents were the subject of exile and intrigue alike.
Eventually the “tools” of Aristotle came into the hands of Thomas Aquinas, via Albertus Magnus. These two Dominican Friars were members of an order aptly created by the Patron Saint of Falsely Accused People. One can only imagine what Aristotle would have thought of Catholism, but at least he could have related with the patronage.
We will focus on Thomas, he is far more interesting and influential. Now while not a peripatetic per se, his life shared their pattern of intrigue and travel. Thomas spent most of his life shifting between Paris and Naples. He was often condemned by the church but was also eventually sainted. His contribution to Aristotle’s work is interwoven with Catholic law and philosophy. Whatever your views, he re-popularized Aristotle’s philosophy in Western culture.
From the Dominicans of the 13th century, our story now flips to the Franciscans of the 14th. Enter William of Ockham, known best for Occam’s razor. Unlike Thomas, Occam was never officially condemned by the church, although not for lack of trying. He was never sainted either, but he had a considerable impact on the development of logic and Aristotle’s “tools”.
Also important to the story is Bacon… Roger Bacon. A contemporary of all three gentlemen, he was not without his criticisms, mainly of Albertus Magnus. Soon Bacon found himself in hot water, he was either imprisoned… or not, history is quite inaccurate, reality doubly so. He himself would be lost to mythology for some three hundred years — popularized as a wizard in league with the devil. Alchemy and secret science aside, Roger spent a good deal of time creating natural science as we know it.
Every story is better with Bacon, so let’s add a double side. We now turn to Francis Bacon who would be among the first to try to resurrect the reputation of his namesake (but non-relation). Francis was not a Franciscan, although quite religious. He was never sainted, though he was knighted. Like his predecessors, Francis would ultimately find himself in disgrace before dying of pneumonia contracted after a prolonged period in a meat locker.
Neither Francis’ story, nor his attempts to restore Roger’s is important to our own. His efforts to further codify Roger’s take on Aristotle’s teaching are quite important. Between these two Englishman, the principles of Aristotle were now codified and formulated. Francis took the opportunity to call his work Novum Organum. A “new tool” had arrived. As is often the case, what began as Greek theory was now codified by English rule.
Thus ends the first part of our story. From Socrates to Aristotle, Al Kindi to Ibn Rushd, Thomas to William, Bacon to Bacon, it was a journey of numerous steps (let’s say 42). It was a peripatetic journey from ancient Greece to Arabia, that reached westward across the Mediteranean before crossing into Spain, there it turned east again toward Naples than wandered northward through Paris and England. It was the journey of human learning and human history, a deep history.
In part two, we will examine the transformation of Bacon’s method, from the dawn of machines to the integration of games. We will examine the interplay of evolution, systems thinking, cognitive science and more. Where ever we wander, we will try to bring more insight and humor along for the ride. Thanks for reading.
For more from Aristotle:
For more from Francis Bacon:
