Ezequiel A Di Paolo (born in Buenos Aires, 1970) is a full-time Research Professor at
Ikerbasque
Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science, is a foundation promoted by the Basque Government in 2007 to contribute to the development of scientific research in the Basque Country by attracting researchers of excellence and consolidating career ...
, the Basque Foundation for Science. He also has affiliations with the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics at the
University of Sussex. His field of research covers
enactivism and embodiment in
cognitive science.
Education
Di Paolo studied Physics at the
University of Buenos Aires and obtained a Master of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering from the
Balseiro Institute in Argentina. He has a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
degree in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from the
University of Sussex.
Academic work
His work includes research in
embodied cognition
Embodied cognition is the theory that many features of cognition, whether human or otherwise, are shaped by aspects of an organism's entire body. Sensory and motor systems are seen as fundamentally integrated with cognitive processing. The cognit ...
, dynamical systems, adaptive behaviour in natural and artificial systems, biological modelling,
complex systems
A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication s ...
,
evolutionary robotics, and
philosophy of science. His research is in the tradition established by Varela, Thompson and Rosch,
which was an early example of the
embodied, enactive approach to cognition.
Di Paolo believes that
embodiment and
enactivism have the potential to increase our understanding in traditional problems of
cognition
Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...
, and advocates that these alternative views should be explored and developed further, rather than being subsumed (or 'watered down'
) under more traditional frameworks, such as the
cartesian Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to:
Mathematics
*Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory
*Cartesian coordinate system, modern ...
dualistic model.
His promotion and exploration of embodiment and enactivism is carried on through his work in the academic consortiu
eSMCs an EU funded project to investigate the role of sensorimotor contingencies in cognition.
Additionally, he is involved i
Centre for LIfe, Mind and Society a research group spanning complex systems in biology and self-organising systems.
Other areas of his work include social cognition and intersubjectivity. He is involved as principal investigator with the Marie-Curie Initial Training Networ
TESIS — Towards an Embodied Science of InterSubjectivity
He is Editor-in-chief of the interdisciplinary journal ''
Adaptive Behavior''.
Publications
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*Di Paolo, E. A. (2010). Robotics inspired in the organism. Intellectica, 53-54, 129–162.
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References
External links
Personal blogUniversity of Sussex
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paolo, Ezequiel A. Di
Enactive cognition
Cognitive scientists
Philosophers of science
Living people
1970 births
Researchers of artificial life
Alumni of the University of Sussex