Here's a paper discussing this proposition as an example application of a transient 20th century technical metaphor tot he operation of the brain:
http://www.bth.se/com/gsil_cognitive_neural_eng.nsf/attachments/ACIB2011LindleyReprint_pdf/$file/ACIB2011LindleyReprint.pdf ________________________________________ From: Ben Goertzel [[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, 6 October 2012 10:43 AM To: AGI Subject: Re: [agi] "The universe is a computer" The core of the "universe is computable" idea is the Church-Turing thesis, originally stated as " ... that 'a function is effectively calculable if its values can be found by some purely mechanical process.' We may take this literally, understanding that by a purely mechanical process one which could be carried out by a machine. The development ... leads to ... an identification of computability† with effective calculability." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church%E2%80%93Turing_thesis ) A purely mechanical process may be grounded in some theory of physics; or it may be thought of as an "explicitly describable process", which grounds the notion in some language, or some language + communicational community. Deutsch's version of Quantum Church-Turing Thesis puts it more clearly and modern-ly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_physics#The_Church.E2.80.93Turing_.28Deutsch.29_thesis "I can now state the physical version of the Church-Turing principle: 'Every finitely realizable physical system can be perfectly simulated by a universal model computing machine operating by finite means.' This formulation is both better defined and more physical than Turing's own way of expressing it." Deutsch proves this is true under the assumption that quantum physics is an adequate description of the physical universe. Loopholes here are: -- quantum physics is known to be an incomplete physical theory of the universe -- there may be aspects of the universe that go beyond the physical, and some of these may be relevant for intelligence My own feeling personally is that -- the universe is computable insofar as it is explicitly, clearly describable in formal and objective (e.g. scientific) language -- existence has some aspects going beyond the scientific / formal / explicitly describable ... but one can build a machine with human-level intelligence and consciousness, without explicitly attending to these aspects Obviously one verges on some quite deep and abstract philosophy here, and touches issues that are by their nature not resolvable via science or engineering (though science & engineering may influence peoples' attitudes on them) -- Ben G On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 8:12 AM, Logan Streondj <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I just wanted to chime in on the power of the universe computer. For tens of thousands of years people have been using it, for their benefit. In caves people painted pictures of the animals they'd like to eat, some of the first visual programs documented in our history. This form of programming the universe for personal or collective gain, has through the ages had many names, magic, prayer, agenda's, plans. They set into motion not only our bodies but also the cognitive fabric of reality. Indeed while objective reality is ineffable, subjective reality is readily observable. Quantum physics observer bias works, assuming you believe as the ancients in animism, that all things are alive, including rocks, plants, animals the planet, and indeed ideas. ideas are a seed that when planted can grow into world recreating phenomena. So while we used to think of the universe as clockwork, now we see it as computers, as it is the most complicated thing we are of in our everyday experience, all in all with it's great mysteries it still maintains many elements of magic. Logan Streondj AGI | Archives<https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/212726-11ac2389> | Modify<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription <http://www.listbox.com> -- Ben Goertzel, PhD http://goertzel.org "My humanity is a constant self-overcoming" -- Friedrich Nietzsche AGI | Archives<https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> [https://www.listbox.com/images/feed-icon-10x10.jpg] <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/23273500-4b97535e> | Modify<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription [https://www.listbox.com/images/listbox-logo-small.png] <http://www.listbox.com> ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-c97d2393 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-2484a968 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
