On 10/15/2008 08:01 AM,, Ben Goertzel wrote:
...
It seems to me there are two types of conversations here:
1)
Discussions of how to design or engineer AGI systems, using current
computers, according to designs that can feasibly be implemented by
moderately-sized groups of people
2)
Discussions about whether the above is even possible -- or whether it
is impossible because of weird physics, or poorly-defined special
characteristics of human creativity, or the so-called "complex systems
problem", or because AGI intrinsically requires billions of people and
quadrillions of dollars, or whatever
...
Potentially, there could be another list, something like
"agi-philosophy", devoted to philosophical and weird-physics and other
discussions about whether AGI is possible or not. I am not sure
whether I feel like running that other list ... and even if I ran it,
I might not bother to read it very often. I'm interested in new,
substantial ideas related to the in-principle possibility of AGI, but
not interested at all in endless philosophical arguments over various
peoples' intuitions in this regard.
One fear I have is that people who are actually interested in building
AGI, could be scared away from this list because of the large volume
of anti-AGI philosophical discussion. Which, I add, almost never has
any new content, and mainly just repeats well-known anti-AGI arguments
(Penrose-like physics arguments ... "mind is too complex to engineer,
it has to be evolved" ... "no one has built an AGI yet therefore it
will never be done" ... etc.)
What are your thoughts on this?
Another emphatic +1 on this idea. Having both types of discussion on the
same list invariably results in type 2 discussions drowning out type 1
discussions, as has happened on this list more and more in recent
months. A lower volume list that is more tightly focused on type 1
topics would be much appreciated.
I may still subscribe to the other list, but being able to filter the
two lists into separate mail folders (which would be prioritized and
read or skimmed or skipped accordingly) would save me a lot of time.
-------------------------------------------
agi
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