Abram,
I don't understand why.how I need to argue an alternative - please explain.
If it helps, a deterministic, programmed machine can, at any given point,
only follow one route through a given territory or problem space or maze -
even if surprising & *appearing* to halt/deviate from the plan - to the
original, less-than-omniscient-of-what-he-hath-wrought programmer. (A
fundamental programming problem, right?) A creative free machine, like a
human, really can follow any of what may be a vast range of routes - and you
really can't predict what it will do or, at a basic level, be surprised by
it.
Mike,
Will's objection is not quite so easily dismissed. You need to argue
that there is an alternative, not just that Will's is more of the
same.
--Abram
On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 9:34 AM, Mike Tintner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
MT:By contrast, all deterministic/programmed machines and computers are
guaranteed to complete any task they begin.
Will:If only such could be guaranteed! We would never have system hangs,
dead locks. Even if it could be made so, computer systems would not
always want to do so.
Will,
That's a legalistic, not a valid objection, (although heartfelt!).In the
above case, the computer is guaranteed to hang - and it does, strictly,
complete its task.
What's happened is that you have had imperfect knowledge of the program's
operations. Had you known more, you would have known that it would hang.
Were your computer like a human mind, it would have been able to say (as
you/we all do) - "well if that part of the problem is going to be
difficult,
I'll ignore it" or.. "I'll just make up an answer..". or "by God I'll
keep
trying other ways until I do solve this.." or... "..zzzzzzzz" or ...
Computers, currently, aren't free thinkers.
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