Who Is Herbert Simon a Glimpse of a Nobel Peace Prize Winner free essay sample

Who was Herbert Simon? 1 Running Head: WHO WAS HERBERT SIMON? Who was Herbert Simon? A Glimpse of a Nobel Peace Prize Winner Crystal Peru Politics, Policy and Ethics in the Public Sector PAD510 May 30, 2010 Who was Herbert Simon? 2 Abstract This paper investigates and provides factual research on Mr. Herbert Simon and his contributions to the founding of Artificial Intelligence. Herbert A. Simon was one of the founding fathers of artificial intelligence. Simon, who, along with Allen Newell and J. C. Shaw, wrote the first AI program in 1956, received many honors in his lifetime, including the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1978. Simon was a true renaissance man. He researched human decision-making and problem-solving processes and the implications of those processes for social institutions. Simons major awards in four areas: psychology, economics, management science and computer science attest to his breadth of interest and expertise. Simons impact in the world is no more apparent than at Carnegie Mellon University, where, arguably, he was the most influential person. We will write a custom essay sample on Who Is Herbert Simon? a Glimpse of a Nobel Peace Prize Winner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Simon left behind over 60 years of research and theorems. He also left the computer science world with the heuristic compiler, in which he applied theories and techniques from other disciplines. Who was Herbert Simon? 3 Who was Herbert Simon? A Glimpse of a Nobel Peace Prize Winner. Herbert Alexander Simon was born into a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 15, 1916. His father, Arthur Simon (1881–1948) was an electrical engineer who had come to the United States from Germany in 1903 after earning his engineering degree from the Technische Hochschule of Darmstadt. Arthur, an inventor, who was granted several dozen patents; he was also an independent patent attorney. Herberts mother, Edna Marguerite Merkel, was an accomplished pianist whose ancestors had come from Prague and Cologne. Herberts European ancestors had been piano makers, goldsmiths, and vintners. Herbert Simon was educated as a child in the public school system in Milwaukee where he developed an interest in science. He found schoolwork to be interesting but rather easy. Unlike many children, Simon was exposed to the idea that human behavior could be studied scientifically at a relatively young age due to the influence of his mother’s younger brother, Harold Merkel, who had studied economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison under John R. Commons. Through his uncle’s books on economics and psychology, Simon discovered the social sciences. Simon received both his B. A. (1936) and his Ph. D. (1943) in political science, from the University of Chicago, where he studied under Harold Lasswell and Charles Edward Merriam. Among his earliest influences, Simon has cited Richard Ely’s economics textbook, Norman Angell’s The Great Illusion, and Henry George’s Progress and Poverty. In 1933, Simon entered Who was Herbert Simon? 4 the University of Chicago, and following those early influences, he studied the social sciences and mathematics. He was interested in biology, but chose not to study it because of his color-blindness and awkwardness in the laboratory. He chose instead to focus on political science and economics. His most important mentor at the University was Henry Schultz who was an econometrician and mathematical economist. After enrolling in a course on Measuring Municipal Governments, Simon was invited to be a research assistant for Clarence Ridley, with whom he coauthored the book Measuring Municipal Activities in 1948. Eventually his studies led him to the field of organizational decision-making, which would become the subject of his doctoral dissertation. From 1939 to 1942, Simon acted as director of a research group at the University of California, Berkeley. When the group’s grant was exhausted, he took a position in political science at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Back in Chicago, he began participating in the seminars held by the staff of the Cowles Commission who at that time included Trygve Haavelmo, Jacob Marschak, and Tjalling Koopmans. He thus began a more in-depth study of economics in the area of institutionalism. Marschak brought Simon in to assist in the study he was currently undertaking with Sam Schurr of the â€Å"prospective economic effects of atomic energy†. In 1949, Simon became a professor of administrations and chairman of the Department of Industrial Management at Carnegie Tech (later to become Carnegie Mellon University). He continued to teach in various departments at Carnegie Mellon, including psychology and computer science, until his death in 2001. Who was Herbert Simon? From 1950 to 1955, Simon studied mathematical economics and during this time, together with David Hawkins, discovered and proved the Hawkins-Simon theorem on the â€Å"conditions for the existence of positive solution vectors for input-output matrices. He also developed theorems on near-decomposability and aggregation. Having begun to apply these theorems to organizations, Simon determined around 1954 that the best way t o study problem-solving was to simulate it with computer programs, which led to his interest in computer simulation of human cognition. End 1950s he was among the first members of the Society for General Systems Research. Mr. Simon was a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, creating with Allen Newell the Logic Theory Machine (1956) and the General Problem Solver (GPS) (1957) programs. GPS was possibly the first method of separating problem solving strategy from information about particular problems. Both programs were developed using the Information Processing Language (IPL) (1956) developed by Newell, Cliff Shaw and Simon. Donald Knuth mentions the development of list processing in IPL with the linked list originally called NSS memory for its inventors. In 1957, Simon predicted that computer chess would surpass human chess abilities within 10 years when, in reality, that transition took about 40 years. In the early 1960s Simon wrote a paper responding to a claim by the psychologist Ulric Neisser that machines might be able to replicate cold cognition, e. g. processes like reasoning, planning, perceiving, and deciding, but could not replicate hot cognition, including desiring, feeling pain or pleasure, and having emotions. Simons paper was eventually published in 1967. It was ignored by the AI research community for some years, but later became very influential e. g. indirectly through the work of Sloman and Picard on emotions. Who was Herbert Simon? 6 Simon also collaborated with James G. March on several works in organization theory. With Allen Newell, Simon developed a theory for the simulation of human problem solving behavior using production rules. The study of human problem solving required new kinds of human measurements and, with Anders Ericsson, Simon developed the experimental technique of verbal protocol analysis. Simon was interested in the role of knowledge in expertise. He said that to become an expert required about 10 years of experience and he and colleagues estimated that expertise was the result of learning roughly 50,000 chunks of information. A chess expert was said to have learned about 50,000 chunks or chess position patterns. Simon was also interested in how humans learn and, with Edward Feigenbaum, he developed the EPAM (Elementary Perceiver and Memorizer) theory, one of the first theories of learning to be implemented as a computer program. EPAM was able to explain a large number of phenomena in the field of verbal learning. Later versions of the model were applied to concept formation and the acquisition of expertise. He was awarded the ACMs A. M. Turing Award along with Allen Newell in 1975. In joint scientific efforts extending over twenty years, initially in collaboration with J. C. (Cliff) Shaw at the RAND Corporation, and subsequentially with numerous faculty and student colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, they have made basic contributions to artificial intelligence, the psychology of human cognition, and list processing. Who was Herbert Simon? 7 Herbert Simon has been credited for revolutionary changes in microeconomics. He is responsible for the concept of organizational decision-making as it is known today. He was also the first to discuss this concept in terms of uncertainty; i. e. it is impossible to have perfect and complete information at any given time to make a decision. While this notion was not e ntirely new, Simon is best known for its origination. It was in this area that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978. At the Cowles Commission, Simon’s main goal was to link economic theory to mathematics and statistics. His main contributions were to the fields of general equilibrium and econometrics. He was greatly influenced by the marginalist debate that began in the 1930s. The popular work of the time argued that it was not empirically apparent that entrepreneurs needed to follow the marginalist principles of profit-maximization/cost-minimization in running organizations. The argument went on to note that profit-maximization was not accomplished, in part, because of the lack of complete information. In decision-making, Simon believed that agents face uncertainty about the future and costs in acquiring information in the present. These factors limit the extent to which agents can make a fully rational decision, thus they possess only â€Å"bounded rationality† and must make decisions by â€Å"satisfying,† or choosing that which might not be optimal but which will make them happy enough. Simon was known for his research on industrial organization. He determined that the internal organization of firms and the external business decisions thereof did not conform to the Neoclassical theories of â€Å"rational† decision-making. Simon wrote many articles on the topic over the course of his life mainly focusing on the issue of decision-making within the behavior of what he termed â€Å"bounded rationality†. â€Å"Rational behavior, in economics, means that individuals Who was Herbert Simon? 8 maximizes his utility function under the constraints they face (e. g. , their budget constraint, limited choices ) in pursuit of their self-interest. This is reflected in the theory of subjective expected utility. The term bounded rationality is used to designate rational choice that takes into account the cognitive limitations of both knowledge and cognitive capacity. Bounded rationality is a central theme in behavioral economics. It is concerned with the ways in which the actual decision-making process influences decisions. Theories of bounded rationality relax one or more assumptions of standard expected utility theory†. Simon determined that the best way to study these areas was through computer simulation modeling. As such, he developed an interest in computer science. Herbert Simons main interests in computer science were in artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, principles of the organization of humans and machines as information processing systems, the use of computers to study by modeling) philosophical problems of the nature of intelligence and of epistemology, and the social implications of computer technology. Some of Simons economic research was directed toward understanding technological change in general and the information processing revolution in particular. While living in Pittsburgh, PA, he advised the citizen ry on various issues including the use of public funds to build stadiums and the method of raising tax revenue. Simon emphasized the usefulness of the land tax, reflecting the early influence of Henry George on his economic thought. Who was Herbert Simon? 9 Administrative Behavior was Herbert Simon’s doctoral dissertation and his first book. It served as the foundation for his lifes work. The centerpiece of this book is the behavioral and cognitive processes of making rational human choices, that is, decisions. An operational administrative decision should be correct and efficient, and it must be practical to implement with a set of coordinated means. Any decision involves a choice selected from a number of alternatives, directed toward an organizational goal or subgoal. Realistic options will have real consequences consisting of personnel actions or non-actions modified by environmental facts and values. In actual practice, some of the alternatives may be conscious or unconscious; some of the consequences may be unintended as well as intended; and some of the means and ends may be imperfectly differentiated, incompletely related, or poorly detailed. The task of rational decision making is to select the alternative that results in the more preferred set of all the possible consequences. This task can be divided into three required steps: (1) the identification and listing of all the alternatives; (2) the determination of all the consequences resulting from each of the alternatives; and (3) the comparison of the accuracy and efficiency of each of these sets of consequences. Any given individual or organization attempting to implement this model in a real situation would be unable to comply with the three requirements. It is highly improbable that one could know all the alternatives, or all the consequences that follow each alternative. Who was Herbert Simon? 10 There is: given the inevitable limits on rational decision making, what other techniques or behavioral processes can a person or organization bring to bear to achieve approximately the best result? Simon writes: â€Å"The human being striving for rationality and restricted within the limits of his knowledge has developed some working procedures that partially overcome these difficulties. These procedures consist in assuming that he can isolate from the rest of the world a closed system containing a limited number of variables and a limited range of consequences. † Administrative Behavior, as a text, addresses a wide range of human behaviors, cognitive abilities, management techniques, personnel policies, training goals and procedures, specialized roles, criteria for evaluation of accuracy and efficiency, and all of the ramifications of communication processes. Simon is particularly interested in how these factors directly and indirectly influence the making of decisions. Weaving in and out of the practical functioning of all of these organizational factors are two universal elements of human social behavior that Simon addresses in Chapter VII—The Role of Authority, and in Chapter X—Loyalties, and Organizational Identification. Authority is a well studied, primary mark of organizational behavior, and is straightforwardly defined in the organizational context as the ability and right of an individual of higher rank to determine the decision of an individual of lower rank. The actions, attitudes, and relationships of the dominant and subordinate individuals constitute components of role behavior that can vary widely in form, style, and content, but do not vary in the expectation of obedience by the one of superior status, and willingness to obey from the subordinate. Authority is highly influential on Who was Herbert Simon? 11 the formal structure of the organization, including patterns of communication, sanctions, and rewards, as well as on the establishment of goals, objectives, and values of the organization. Decisions can be complex admixtures of facts and values. Information about facts, especially empirically proven facts or facts derived from specialized experience, are more easily transmitted in the exercise of authority than are the expressions of values. Simon is primarily interested in seeking identification of the individual employee with the organizational goals and values. Following Lasswell he states that â€Å"a person identifies himself with a group when, in making a decision, he evaluates the several alternatives of choice in terms of their consequences for the specified group†. A person may identify himself with any number of social, geographic, economic, racial, religious, familial, educational, gender, political, and sports groups. Indeed, the number and variety are unlimited. The fundamental problem for organizations is to recognize that personal and group identifications can either facilitate or obstruct correct decision making for the organization. A specific organization has to deliberately determine and specify in appropriate detail and clear language its own goals, objectives, means, ends, and values. Chester Barnard pointed out that â€Å"the decisions that an individual makes as a member of an organization are quite distinct from his personal decisions†. Personal choices may determine whether an individual joins a particular organization, and continue to be made in his or her extra–organizational private life. But, as a member of an organization, that individual makes decisions not in relationship to personal needs and results, but in an impersonal sense as part of the organizational intent, purpose, and effect. Organizational inducements, rewards, and sanctions are all designed to form, strengthen, and maintain this identification. Who was Herbert Simon? 12 The correctness of decisions is measured by two major criteria: (1) adequacy of achieving the desired objective; and (2) the efficiency with which the result was obtained. Many members of the organization may focus on adequacy, but the overall administrative management must pay particular attention to the efficiency with which the desired result was obtained. Simons contributions to research in the area of decision-making have become increasingly mainstream in the business community thanks to the growth of management consulting. Conclusion These multiple events and effects have helped to paint a vivid picture of a very brilliant man. Herbert Simon articulated from the perspective of 1960 his vision of what we now call the New Economy the machine-aided system of production and management of the late 20th century. Simons analysis sprang rom what I term the principle of cognitive comparative advantage: one has to understand the quite different cognitive structures of humans and machines (including computers) in order to explain and predict the tasks to which each will be most suited. Perhaps unlike Simons better-known predictions about progress in artificial intelligence research, the predictions of this 1960 article hold up remarkably well and continue to offer important insights. In what follows I attempt to tell a coherent story about th e evolution of machines and the division of labor between humans and machines. Although inspired by Simons 1960 paper, I weave many other strands into the tapestry, from classical discussions of the division of labor to present-day evolutionary psychology. The basic conclusion is that, with growth in the extent of Who was Herbert Simon? 13 the market, we should see humans crowded into tasks that call for the kinds of cognition for which humans have been equipped by biological evolution. These human cognitive abilities range from the exercise of judgment in situations of ambiguity and surprise to more mundane abilities in spatio-temporal perception and locomotion. Conversely, we should see machines crowded into tasks with a well-defined structure. This conclusion is not based (merely) on a claim that machines, including computers, are specialized idiots-savants today because of the limits (whether temporary or permanent) of artificial intelligence; rather, it rests on a claim that, for what are broadly economic reasons, it will continue to make economic sense to create machines that are idiots-savants.