Hello Emahn, I think you have clear ideas and some background in computing and quantitative sciences.
My suggestion is to pursue some degree with emphasis on: - electrical engineering (to know how to make things work) and computer science (to understand the double nature of information/computation), - bat also on physics (to approach and develop models of nature with no shame) - neuroscience --that I would prefer than cognition-- to keep an eye on how nature and evolution have already solved the problem. - on philosophy, especially on religion (because mankind has approached the same problem for thousands of years, and there must be interesting ideas over there) and arts, to keep the other part of the brain exercise. My advise is that you have to be aware that this is perhaps one of the most difficult scientific problems to date (and surely one of the most disruptive) and it is gonna be difficult that someone teaches how to solve it. You will have to walk very big steps by yourself. So, whatever the degree you choose, keep working on the other matters. Of course, another possibility is to develop intuition and try to focus on one --hopefully key-- subproblem. For instance, my intuition is to work with multi-agent systems, very much like Sutton's Horde architecture (also see David Silver GTD Networks) or deep learning in which we use predictors or other computing machines rather than neurons. That requires applied mathematics, especially optimization is a very interesting framework for modelling the learning process. And why do I have that intuition, well in my case I am very interesting in spirituality, I practice Yoga and read Buddhist, Hindi and Christian Saints, and in all of them the notion of "Love" (which is suitable to be considered as a force when modelling interactions) , "Happiness" (which is a reward function to motivate learning) and the concept of the Spirit (that could model the implicit communication and how the info diffuses) are deeply --but sometimes poetically-- treated. So my two best recommendation are: - keep your mind open - it may be a long journey, so take it easy and enjoy the trip (in other words, choose whatever you like most and what your intuition tells you, you will have time to pursue a MSc, PhD or simply spend a lot of hours reading many authors) BTW, have you watched this speech by Steve Jobs? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWUCX6osgM I like Kierkegaard's quote: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Best! Sergio On Fri, Aug 2, 2013 at 10:41 PM, Mike Archbold <[email protected]> wrote: > I think I remember that guy with the alien brain implant theory. > > I actually haven't read anybody on here that has nothing at all to add > to the whole AGI problem. I mean, a lot of it I don't agree with or > don't think it's a wise path, or whatever, but buried inside > somebody's theory is some key notion that I suspect I could use at > some point. > > Now, the guy with the brain implant might represent an exception. > Also, there were some other outright crazy posts. > > What I don't like about the AGI crowd is the dismissive attitude some > people have. Unless somebody shows me their working strong AI I'm not > going to accept a dismissive attitude! And that's the problem... > since there isn't a working strong general AI, there is no point of > reference. There is nothing but grounds for endless arguments, and > somebody might really listen to strong criticism and stop their point > of research. I don't see any point in just having an exclusive > attitude. > > On 8/2/13, Matt Mahoney <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Fri, Aug 2, 2013 at 12:50 AM, Mike Archbold <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> I think a lot of people have left this agi list over the years due to > >> protracted flame wars. > > > > Yes. It's too bad. Those were the people who were doing real research > > and sharing results. But even then, no two people could agree on the > > correct approach, so any collaboration on a project was impossible. > > It's even worse now that people are mostly sharing ideas without the > > research. > > > >> Some people I suspect have been > >> institutionalized! It's a shame, and not limited to this agi list. > > > > I can think of two. In one case, he was able to continue his work on > > simulated evolution, thanks to the mental institutions in Canada > > having internet access. But he was banned from the list. If you saw > > his rambling posts about alien brain implants and other paranoia, you > > would understand. > > > > -- > > -- Matt Mahoney, [email protected] > > > > > > ------------------------------------------- > > AGI > > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now > > RSS Feed: > https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/11943661-d9279dae > > Modify Your Subscription: > > https://www.listbox.com/member/?&; > > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com > > > > > ------------------------------------------- > AGI > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/15717384-a248fe41 > Modify Your Subscription: > https://www.listbox.com/member/?&; > Powered by Listbox: 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-f452e424 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-58d57657 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
