On Fri, 2003-01-10 at 13:00, Ben Goertzel wrote: > > My intuition is the same as David's -- how can a subset of the universe know > the whole universe?? There seem to be some basic algorithmic information > theory problems here. How can you fit all the patterns in an N-bit > universe, in a < N bit subset of the universe?? > > But I don't trust my intuition very well in such domains.
Your intuition is correct, depending on how strict you are about "knowledge". The intrinsic algorithmic information content of any machine is greater (sometimes much greater) than the algorithmic information content of its static state. The intrinsic AIC doesn't change even though the AIC of the machine state may. For this reason, it is not possible for a machine with a smaller AIC to perfectly model a machine with greater or even equal AIC. By extension, it is also not possible to have perfect self-knowledge. It is a common misapplication and/or misunderstanding to interchangeably use the intrinsic AIC of a machine with the AIC of the machine's state; I'm not saying that is happening here, but I see it regularly in other less rigorous forums and so it is worth bringing up. All this does not preclude a smaller machine from having a very good predictive model of a larger machine. Just not a perfect one. Cheers, -James Rogers [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?[EMAIL PROTECTED]
