Fortunately this really is a simple idea. In one sentence: Assuming you already understand the basic idea of a Turing machine (a device that moves from state to state as it reads/writes symbols on its tape), an accept state is a state that is designated in advance to mean that if the machine ever gets to it the computation has finished successfully.
On Jul 2, 2016 8:31 AM, "Nick Thompson" <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Friammers, > > > > When I came to Santa Fe a decade ago, a recently retired psychology > professor and writer, it was with a great interest in complexity and a > faith that, with enough patience, and diligence I could come to understand > what you were all about. This has proved much more difficult than I had > imagined. So it was, with renewed optimism, that I picked up Chris > Bernard’s TURING’S VISION: THE BIRTH OF COMPUTER SCIENCE. It looked like > the kind of book that I *ought to be* able to understand. (Note the use > of modal language.) But, as so often happens with such deceptively simple, > books-for-the-ordinary-citizen-like-me, its first few pages contained a few > assumptions that seemed so bone-headedly counter-intuitive that everything > I read thereafter was poisoned. So, I have four questions: > > > > 1. Has anybody read this book? > > 2. Do you understand it? > > 3. WTF is an Accept State? > > 4. And why is it called an “Accept State?” > > > > Hope the members of the Friam Mother Church are having good summer. You > should know that you have had more rain in Santa Fe than we have had here > in Massachusetts since I got back. My neighbors have started tearing up > their lawns and laying down pebbles. > > > > Take care, > > > > Nick > > > > > > > > Nicholas S. Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology > > Clark University > > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
