Yes... the idea underlying Sloman's quote is why the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science was invented a few decades ago...
ben g On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 12:05 PM, Jim Bromer <[email protected]> wrote: > Both of you are wrong. (Where did that quote come from by the way. What > year did he write or say that.) > > An inadequate understanding of the problems is exactly what has to > be expected by researchers (both professional and amateurs) when they are > facing a completely novel pursuit. That is why we have endless discussions > like these. What happened over and over again in AI research is that the > amazing advances in computer technology always seemed to suggest that > similar advances in AI must be just off the horizon. And the reality is > that there have been major advances in AI. In the 1970's a critic stated > that he wouldn't believe that AI was possible until a computer was able to > beat him in chess. Well, guess what happened and guess what conclusion he > did not derive from the experience. One of the problems with critics is > that they can be as far off as those whose optimism is absurdly unwarranted. > > If a broader multi-disciplinary effort was the obstacle to creating AGI, we > would have AGI by now. It should be clear to anyone who examines the > history of AI or the present day reach of computer programming that a > multi-discipline effort is not the key to creating effective AGI. Computers > have become pervasive in modern day life, and if it was just a matter of > getting people with different kinds of interests involved, it would have > been done by now. It is a little like saying that the key to safe deep sea > drilling is to rely on the expertise of companies that make billions and > billions of dollars and which stand to lose billions by mistakes. While > that should make sense, if you look a little more closely, you can see that > it doesn't quite work out that way in the real world. > > Jim Bromer > > On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 7:33 AM, Mike Tintner <[email protected]>wrote: > >> "One of the problems of AI researchers is that too often they start off >> with an inadequate >> understanding of the *problems* and believe that solutions are only a few >> years away. We need an educational system that not only teaches techniques >> and solutions, but also an understanding of problems and their difficulty — >> which can come from a broader multi-disciplinary education. That could speed >> up progress." >> A. Sloman >> >> (& who else keeps saying that?) >> *agi* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> >> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/> | >> Modify<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;>Your Subscription >> <http://www.listbox.com/> >> > > *agi* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/> | > Modify<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;>Your Subscription > <http://www.listbox.com> > -- Ben Goertzel, PhD CEO, Novamente LLC and Biomind LLC CTO, Genescient Corp Vice Chairman, Humanity+ Advisor, Singularity University and Singularity Institute External Research Professor, Xiamen University, China [email protected] " “When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” ------------------------------------------- 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=8660244-6e7fb59c Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
