Vladamir, On 5/7/08, Vladimir Nesov <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > See http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/01/newcombs-proble.html
This is a PERFECT talking point for the central point that I have been trying to make. Belief in the Omega discussed early in that article is essentially a religious belief in a greater power. Most Christians see examples of the power of God at around a monthly rate. Whenever chance works for apparent good or against perceived evil, there is clear evidence of God doing his job. Story: A Baptist minister neighbor had his alternator come loose just as he was leaving for an important meeting, so I temporarily secured it with an industrial zip tie, and told him to remove the zip tie and properly bold the alternator back into place when he got back home. Three weeks later, his alternator came loose again. He explained that he had done NOTHING wrong this week, and so he just couldn't see why God took this occasion to smite his alternator. I suggested that we examine it for clues. Sure enough, there were the remnants of my zip tie which he had never replaced. He explained that God seemed to be holding things together OK, so why bother fixing it. Explaining the limitations of industrial zip ties seemed to be hopeless, so I translated my engineering paradigm to his religious paradigm: I explained that he had been testing God by seeing how long God would continue to hold his alternator in place, and apparently God had grown tired of playing this game. "Oh, I see what you mean" he said quite contritely, and he immediately proceeded to properly bolt his alternator back down. Clearly, God had yet again shown his presence to him. Christianity (and other theologies) are no less logical than the one-boxer in the page you cited. Indeed, the underlying thought process is essentially identical. > "It is precisely the notion that Nature does not care about our > algorithm, which frees us up to pursue the winning Way - without > attachment to any particular ritual of cognition, apart from our > belief that it wins. Every rule is up for grabs, except the rule of > winning." Now, consider that ~50% of our population believes that people who do not believe in God are fundamentally untrustworthy. This tends to work greatly to the disadvantage of atheists, thereby showing that God does indeed favor his believers. After many postings on this subject, I still assert that ANY rational AGI would be religious. Atheism is a radical concept and atheists generally do not do well in our society. What sort of "rational" belief (like atheism) would work AGAINST winning? In short, your Omega example has apparently made my point - that religious belief IS arguably just as logical (if not more so)than atheism. Do you agree? Thank you. Steve Richfield ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=101455710-f059c4 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
