> Ben/Bill, > > My feeling is that goals and ethics are not identical concepts.
One needs to be careful in using words to describe mathematical/software concepts. The English word "goal" has a lot of meanings, and is not identical to the behavior of "goal nodes" or "goal maps" in Novamente. Goal nodes and maps are situation-evaluators which assess situations and guide the creation of action-processes that influence situations in directions the evaluate as desirable. This includes the pursuit of concrete and specific goals, but it also includes more abstract evaluations of qualities of situations, and more abstract processes that nudge situations in certain directions. > And I > would think that goals would only make an intentional ethical > contribution if they related to the empathetic consideration of others. > > So whether ethics are built in from the start in the Novamente > architecture depends on whether there are goals *with ethical purposes* > included from the start. Right from the start, even before there is an intelligent autonomous mind there, there will be goals that are of the basic structural character of ethical goals. I.e. goals that involve the structure of "compassion", of adjusting the system's actions to account for the well-being of others based on observation of and feedback from others. These one might consider as "the seeds of future ethical goals". They will grow into real ethics only once the system has evolved a real reflective mind with a real understanding of others... -- Ben G ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?[EMAIL PROTECTED]
