I just discovered something that is REALLY interesting that alters my view of reality - and might also affect yours - and might affect where we are all going with AGI, etc.
Most U.S. States have "Criminal Attempt" laws that read pretty much the same. My own Washington State reads: RCW 9A.28.020 <http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.28.020> Criminal attempt. (1) A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime if, with intent to commit a specific crime, he or she does any act which is a substantial step toward the commission of that crime. (2) If the conduct in which a person engages otherwise constitutes an attempt to commit a crime, it is no defense to a prosecution of such attempt that the crime charged to have been attempted was, under the attendant circumstances, factually or legally impossible of commission. (3) ... So, for example, if someone lies in wait to rob someone, but no one passes by, they are STILL guilty of robbery - pretty much because in some OTHER reality they actually did rob someone. If you look at any person's actions, given infinite inductive logical capability, they ARE legally and convictability guilty of EVERY crime that their actions might have inadvertently prepared them for!!! It seems obvious that while someone might be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it is logically impossible to establish guilt beyond any doubt, pretty much because we can't know which reality we are in. There is some history behind the term "specific", that apparently refers to the common law concept of "specific intent", that refers to a state of mind, which is of course unknowable except as inferred through people's actions. I just filed a criminal complaint under 9A.28.020, and the two hour discussion with uniformed donut-consuming police officers was amusing. One of the officers was already familiar with Criminal Attempt - but only in his distantly recalled training, so I had to impart some legal education. We also discussed pre-crimes enforcement in the movie *Minority Report*, etc. There are SO many screwups in our society that appear to be easily corrected by applying Criminal Intent. For example, there are MANY people who cast invalid votes during the last presidential election. It appears that nearly EVERY ONE of these people could be convicted with CHANGING who was elected President, pretty much because they intended to change who was elected in a different reality. There are also some interesting logical conundrums that come from this. For example, in most jurisdictions if a thief claims that he already owns the item he just took, then it is NOT criminal theft. But, what if he lies? His lie works if done AFTER he took the item. However, if he is accused of Criminal Attempt theft, the obvious defense that part of his plan was to lie to get himself off of the charge, which any judge would reject as a completely ludicrous defense. The charge I just filed bears on this particular point - that it appears possible to secure a Criminal Attempt theft conviction BEFORE a theft occurs, where if the theft were left to actually occur, it could NOT then be prosecuted because of an expected lie! This mind-bending law IS part of our shared reality, at least here in the U.S. Some of you live in other countries - does your country have an equivalent law? I am familiar with Islam, which DOES recognize an equivalent concept which they call indiscretion - looking guilty. In Saudi Arabia, they jail people for indiscretion, leaving them the choice of demanding a trial which requires 2 witnesses for conviction (followed by beheading, amputation of a hand, etc.), or waiting a year or so for routine release. I am now wondering just what social changes a broad understanding of Criminal Attempt, indiscretion, etc., might bring - ESPECIALLY if/when there are AGIs capable of limitless inductive reasoning and sending everyone to prison or worse. This reminds me of the book *Two Felonies a Day*, where the author explains that in our VAST system of laws, the average law-abiding citizen inadvertently commits an average of two felonies a day. Now, do we REALLY need AGIs to convict everyone of the two felonies they commit every day, along with all of their criminal attempts and indiscretions?!!! A Science Fiction writer could have a field day with this stuff. *Steve Richfield* ------------------------------------------ Artificial General Intelligence List: AGI Permalink: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/T50e86f61cc07a7b3-Mc11bb680c76eaca1b572fda2 Delivery options: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/subscription
