Commonsense reasoning, commonsense knowledge, and the SP theory of intelligence

This paper describes how the "SP theory of intelligence", outlined in an Appendix, may throw light on aspects of commonsense reasoning (CSR) and commonsense knowledge (CSK) (together shortened to CSRK), as discussed in another paper by Ernest Davis and Gary Marcus (DM). The SP system has the generality needed for CSRK: Turing equivalence; the generality of information compression as the foundation for the SP system both in the representation of knowledge and in concepts of prediction and probability; the versatility of the SP system in the representation of knowledge and in aspects of intelligence including forms of reasoning; and the potential of the system for the seamless integration of diverse forms of knowledge and diverse aspects of intelligence. Several examples discussed by DM, and how they may be processed in the SP system, are discussed. Also discussed are current successes in CSR (taxonomic reasoning, temporal reasoning, action and change, and qualitative reasoning), how the SP system may promote seamless integration across these areas, and how insights gained from the SP programme of research may yield some potentially useful new ways of approaching these topics. The paper considers how the SP system may help overcome several challenges in the automation of CSR described by DM, and how it meets several of the objectives for research in CSRK that they have described.