On Sun, May 11, 2014 at 06:01:39PM -0700, Pierz wrote: > I've been following the "Is consciousness computable?" thread and it occurs > to me that there may be a contradiction in the UDA. Step 6 introduces the > idea that we can teleport a "brain" (i.e. digitally instantiate a set of > memories, predispositions etc) into a computed virtual environment. Yet > according to the final conclusion of the UDA, physics is necessarily > non-computable, because it arises from an infinity of computations. If step > 6 is to work, ISTM that physics *has* to be computable. It will not be > enough that we *approximate* physics computationally, because we can always > imagine teleporting the brain from and into a physics lab where advanced > particle experiments are being carried out. We can imagine here an > arbitrarily advanced physics lab of the future capable of carrying out the > most advanced experiments that are theoretically possible. The simulated > lab must reproduce the exact same results as the actual lab or the > teleportation fails - the "brain" can tell there's been a switch.
Why does it need to produce the exact same results? All it needs to be is good enough for the brain to be unable to tell there has been a switch. For example: The results here from the lab might be the generation of an uncomputable random sequence - say in the fluctuations of a laser beam. But the computer simulation could replace this with the results of a cryptographically strong pseudo random generator, and the brain would not have a clue. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected] University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au Latest project: The Amoeba's Secret (http://www.hpcoders.com.au/AmoebasSecret.html) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
