Steve,
I suspect I'll regret asking, but...
Does this rational belief make a difference to intelligence? (For the
moment confining the idea of intelligence to making good choices.)
If the AGI rationalized the existence of a higher power, what ultimate
bad choice do you see as a result? (I've assumed that you have a bias
against religion and hence see a big zero or negative in it.)
I agree that asking God to hold together what we ought to fix is a bad
choice. But then again non-religious folks use bailing wire too.
I prefer not to digress into a discussion of religion, but rather stay
to the question of "potential impact on AGI if such a belief was present
in the assumptions of the AGI." If the subject can only lead to
religious critiques, please ignore my response.
Stan
Steve Richfield wrote:
Vladamir,
On 5/7/08, *Vladimir Nesov* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[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
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