I think that computation is not so much a metaphor for understanding the universe as it is an explanation. If you enumerate all possible Turing machines, thus enumerating all possible laws of physics, then some of those universes will have the right conditions for the evolution of intelligent life. If neutrons were slightly heavier than they actually are (relative to protons), then stars could not sustain fusion. If they were slightly lighter, then they would be stable and we would have no elements.
Because of gravity, the speed of light, Planck's constant, the quantization of electric charge, and the finite age of the universe, the universe has a finite length description, and is therefore computable. The Bekenstein bound of the Hubble radius is 2.91 x 10^122 bits. Any computer within a finite universe must have less memory than it, and therefore cannot simulate it except by using an approximate (probabilistic) model. One such model is quantum mechanics. For the same reason, an intelligent agent (which must be Turing computable if the universe is) cannot model itself, except probabilistically as an approximation. Thus, we cannot predict what we will think without actually thinking it. This property makes our own intelligence seem mysterious. An explanation is only useful if it makes predictions, and it does. If the universe were not Turing computable, then Solomonoff induction and AIXI as ideal models of prediction and intelligence would not be applicable to the real world. Yet we have Occam's Razor and find in practice that all successful machine learning algorithms use algorithmically simple hypothesis sets. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- On Wed, 9/3/08, Terren Suydam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Terren Suydam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [agi] Recursive self-change: some definitions To: agi@v2.listbox.com Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 4:17 PM Hi Ben, My own feeling is that computation is just the latest in a series of technical metaphors that we apply in service of understanding how the universe works. Like the others before it, it captures some valuable aspects and leaves out others. It leaves me wondering: what future metaphors will we apply to the universe, ourselves, etc., that will make computation-as-metaphor seem as quaint as the old clockworks analogies? I believe that computation is important in that it can help us simulate intelligence, but intelligence itself is not simply computation (or if it is, it's in a way that requires us to transcend our current notions of computation). Note that I'm not suggesting anything mystical or dualistic at all, just offering the possibility that we can find still greater metaphors for how intelligence works. Either way though, I'm very interested in the results of your work - at worst, it will shed some needed light on the subject. At best... well, you know that part. :-] Terren --- On Tue, 9/2/08, Ben Goertzel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Ben Goertzel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [agi] Recursive self-change: some definitions To: agi@v2.listbox.com Date: Tuesday, September 2, 2008, 4:50 PM On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 4:43 PM, Eric Burton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I really see a number of algorithmic breakthroughs as necessary for the development of strong general AI I hear that a lot, yet I never hear any convincing arguments in that regard... So, hypothetically (and I hope not insultingly), I tend to view this as a kind of unconscious overestimation of the awesomeness of our own species ... we feel intuitively like we're doing SOMETHING so cool in our brains, it couldn't possibly be emulated or superseded by mere algorithms like the ones computer scientists have developed so far ;-) ben ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=111637683-c8fa51 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
