On Nov 30, 2008, at 3:19 AM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: > Yes, and I think of consciousness as an essential side-effect of the > computation, as addition is an essential side-effect of the sum of two > numbers.
Ok, I'm with you so far. But I'd like to get a better handle your concept of a computation in Platonia. Here's one way I've been picturing "platonic computation": Imagine an infinite 2-dimensional grid filled with the binary digits of PI. Now imagine an infinite number of 2-dimensional grids on top of that one, with each grid containing the bits from the grid beneath it, as transformed by the Conway's Life rules. This is a description of a platonic computational object. Of course, my language is somewhat "visual", but that's incidental. The point is, this is a precisely defined mathematical object. We can "point at" any cell in this infinite grid, and there is an answer to whether or not this bit is on or off, given our definitions. (More formally, we can define an abstract computational function that accepts any integer and returns the state of that bit, given all of our definitions.) Do you find this an acceptable way (not necessarily the only way) of describing a computational platonic object? How would you talk about how consciousness relates to the conscious-seeming patterns in this platonic object? Would you say that consciousness "supervenes" on those portions of this platonic computation? -- Kory --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
