On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 5:15 AM, Mike Tintner <[email protected]>wrote:

>   *Logan:I simply said that math was necessary for programming to work*
> **
> *Really? You are saying that a robot can’t take steps to a goal – walk
> across a room or field – without some kind of counting or numbers being
> involved? *
>

certainly! have you ever programmed a robot?

You have to measure the distance to the wall so you don't walk into it.
Also assuming it has legs has to calculate step length so it doesn't exceed
the amount of space available.  Sure when you walk, you don't explicitly
count it in mm or w/e, but you do implicitly based on measuring the amount
of visible space,  much of course is done by lower brain regions which are
out of the way of conscious thinking.


> *That – wh. is more or less what David talks about -  a robot “taking
> steps to a goal” – is a good v. general way to think about both the final
> function of programming and AGI. Why do those steps have to involve maths?
> *
>

even version increments involve counting. I use a hexadecimal increment
system in my roadmap. GIT uses sha hashes for versioning, which is a more
complicated numbering system, that uses more advanced math functionality.


> *(There does have to be some sense of quantities – for example, of
> putting more or less effort into those steps – but again why does that
> quantitative sense have to be precisely mathematical rather than crudely
> emotional? *
>

Emotions are for making the actual decisions, whereas math helps quantify
the options, allowing for smarter decisions, which may lead to more
positive emotions.


> *When you do pressups,  do you think your system is performing
> mathematical calculations of effort – or is your sense of pain rather
> something very crudely and imperfectly fluidly quantitative? After all,
> your system doesn’t actually know its precise limits – how can they be
> quantified?)*
>

sure they can be quantified, with kg's and things like that.  A healthy
vertabrate can on average safely lift and carry about 25% of their body
weight for prolonged periods of time.
Though potentially a 100% or more for short intervals.

If getting groceries from the store, I often at least make rough
calculations of how many kg I'm getting, as I carry the food in my
backpack, and if I'm walking it could be half an hour of carrying or more.
It can be very grueling to carry too much, so I like to be able to estimate
with kg and know how much is safe.



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