Abram, I did not group you with "probability buffs". One of the errors I feel that writers make when their field is controversial is that they begin representing their own opinions from the vantage of countering critics. Unfortunately, I am one of those writers, (or perhaps I am just projecting). But my comment about the probability buffs wasn't directed toward you, I was just using it as an exemplar (of something or another).
Your comments seem to make sense to me although I don't know where you are heading. You said: "what should be hoped for is convergence to (nearly) correct models of (small parts of) the universe. So I suppose that rather than asking for "meaning" in a fuzzy logic, I should be asking for clear accounts of convergence properties..." When you have to find a way to tie together components of knowledge together you typically have to achieve another kind of convergence. Even if these 'components' of knowledge are reliable, they cannot usually be converged easily due to the complexity that their interrelations with other kinds of knowledge (other 'components' of knowledge) will cause. To follow up on what I previously said, if my logic program works it will mean that I can combine and test logical formulas of up to a few hundred distinct variables and find satisfiable values for these combinations in a relatively short period of time. I think this will be an important method to test whether AI can be advanced by advancements in handling complexity even though some people do not feel that logical methods are appropriate to use on multiple source complexity. As you seem to appreciate, logic can still be brought to to the field even though it is not a purely logical game that is to be played. When I begin to develop some simple theories about a subject matter, I will typically create hundreds of minor variations concerning those theories over a period of time. I cannot hold all those variations of the conjecture in consciousness at any one moment, but I do feel that they can come to mind in response to a set of conditions for which that particular set of variations was created for. So while a simple logical theory (about some subject) may be expressible with only a few terms, when you examine all of the possible variations that can be brought into conscious consideration in response to a particular set of stimuli, I think you may find that the theories could be more accurately expressed using hundreds of distinct logical values. If this conjecture of mine turns out to be true, and if I can actually get my new logical methods to work, then I believe that this new range of logical methods may show whether advancements in complexity can make a difference to AI even if its application does not immediately result in human level of intelligence. Jim Bromer ----- Original Message ---- From: Abram Demski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 4:38:02 PM Subject: Re: [agi] Approximations of Knowledge Well, since you found my blog, you probably are grouping me somewhat with the "probability buffs". I have stated that I will not be interested in any other fuzzy logic unless it is accompanied by a careful account of the meaning of the numbers. You have stated that it is unrealistic to expect a logical model to reflect the world perfectly. The intuition behind this seems clear. Instead, what should be hoped for is convergence to (nearly) correct models of (small parts of) the universe. So I suppose that rather than asking for "meaning" in a fuzzy logic, I should be asking for clear accounts of convergence properties... but my intuition says that from clear meaning, everything else follows. ------------------------------------------- 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=106510220-47b225 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
