Good Morning. I’m pleased to see so many members here today. I’ll be speaking about the basic functions of my department, Head Quarters. It’s my belief that many current descriptions of the so-called “mind”—expressions such a “self-aware,” “highly intelligent,” “imaginative”—point to serious misunderstandings of how Head Quarters operates. My hope is that the Units we are responsible for will benefit from less lofty and more realistic notions of how Head Quarters coordinates their functions.

First: our Mission and basic operations. Head Quarters’ mission is to keep the Unit functioning and to prepare a replacement Unit to carry on after the present one becomes inactive. The various operations needed to carry out this mission are indicated on the diagram here of Head Quarters’ departments. Head Quarters continuously interprets streams of data coming in from around the Unit’s Network. It receives especially detailed data from the hands, mouth, and tongue. Data from sources of sound and light arrive from the ears and eyes, the two pair of audio and visual receivers located adjacent to Head Quarters. Other data is handled routinely in round-the-clock monitoring of the Unit’s internal conditions, including levels of fuel, water, waste build-up, oxygen, and blood flow. Together with Lower Quarters, Head Quarters coordinates the processing of food intake.

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The data is stored in Archives. Data that is retrieved often can be easily accessed. Older and background data can decay and become difficult to access accurately if at all.

Head Quarters is closed for business about a third of the time every twenty-four hours in order to perform such functions as offline consolidation, re-sorting of Archives, and resource replenishment.

Head Quarters implements certain Conditions—C-States—that bring on mild or intense sensations in the Unit for various lengths of time. Such Conditions trigger behaviors that are considered to support the Unit’s well-being in the short or long run. They are brought on by changes in the Unit’s surroundings, often by the presence or behavior of other Units.

Examples of common C-States include:

C-Joy, an energized state, short-lived but recurring, often activated by and reinforcing successful interactions with other Units;

C-Sadness, a low-energy condtion in which the Unit tends to withdraw from activity to recover from a setback;

C-Pain, a distressing state in part or all of the Unit that signals injury or dysfunction;

C-Arousal, the set of conditions leading to copulation; and

C-Anger, an energized state in anticipation of physical conflict with hostile Units.

A major portion of Head Quarters’ operations is the tracking of other Units. A few of these Other Units, or O-Units, have exchanged signals with Head Quarters since its first functioning. They are labeled by generic indicators: mother, father, sister, parents. Archives contains full records about them. Other O-Units are encountered frequently but briefly and are less familiar.

All O-Units are continuously assessed for their probable assessment of this Unit, including its Head Quarters. This is a complex but vital and almost constant dynamic. Assessments in both directions are made as to whether an O-Unit seems friendly, trustworthy, indifferent, a possible sexual partner, higher or lower in status. For reasons of safety, O-Units are crudely classified as friendlies, neutrals, or hostiles. Head Quarters views the formation and preservation of alliances as an essential component of Unit well-being. To this end, the smile-expression and the laughter-sound are important but not fully reliable signals.

As for sound that the Unit can produce, Head Quarters is very skilled in their use to exchange information with O-Units. The foundation of the complex sound code is built in to every Units, though the specific signals vary widely. The sound code, an impressive achievement, is in almost constant use between Units. It enables Units to communicate about items that are either physically present or completely out of sight, that existed in the past or are anticipated in the future. Topics include strategies for food procurement, the expression of C-States, and the behavior of O-Units. The code is so compelling that it often runs silently as a default mode within Head Quarters. A visual version of the code is also in common use; such a version of this presentation will be made available shortly.

The sound code includes identification markers for all Units. Early in their functionality, each Unit receives a set of two markers, one that indicates its Unit group, the other indicating the Unit itself and its gender. An example is Petersen, a group marker, preceded by Mary, a female member. The Mary Petersen Unit identifies itself as Mary Petersen as well as I and me depending on the situation, and the Mary Petersen Head Quarters continually reviews the Mary Petersen past, the assessments of Mary Petersen by O-Units, and the plans and schedules for Mary Petersen. Cumulatively, these processes result in the formulation of, and the belief in, what are known as Mary Petersen’s self and her life.

In conclusion, the multiple and multi-level processes coordinated by Head Quarters are demanding. While every Unit operates in the present, it must constantly attend to the past and the future as well. Head Quarters is a forward-looking instrument—flexible, capable, in constant adjustment as the present moment changes and changes again. For the well-being of the Unit, no single time frame is secure or complete without consideration of the other two.

Thank you for your attention. Now I think we have time for a few questions. Yes, in the second row here!