Will,
--- On Fri, 7/11/08, William Pearson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Purpose and goal are not intrinsic to systems.
I agree this is true with designed systems. The designed system is ultimately
an extension of the designer's mind, wherein lies the purpose. Of course, as
you note, the system in question can serve multiple purposes, each of which
lies in the mind of some other observer. The same is true of your system, even
though its behavior may evolve. Your button is what tethers its purpose to your
mind.
On the other hand, we can create simulations in which purpose is truly
emergent. To support emergence our design must support large-scale, (global)
interactions of locally specified entities. Conway's Game of Life is an example
of such a system - what is its purpose? It certainly wasn't specified. The
simplest answer is probably that it has none. But what if our design of the
local level was a little more interesting, such that at the global level, we
would eventually see self-sustaining entities that reproduced, competed for
resources, evolved, etc, and became more complex over a large number of
iterations?
Whether that's possible is another matter, but assuming for the moment it was,
the purpose of that system could be defined in roughly the same way as trying
to define the purpose of life itself. So unless you believe that life was
designed by God (in which case the purpose of life would lie in the mind of
God), the purpose of the system is indeed intrinsic to the system itself.
Terren
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agi
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