Hi Case, Ham et al [Case] I suspect that whatever advanced functions machine intelligence could ever be shown to have you would think of some reason why this is not really the real deal.
Did you ever bottom out why Pirsig only likes to include biological systems in his definition of alive, and then only human systems in his definition of society? He used lengthy analogies about computers to explain how the level shifts work but then flatly refused to accept them as equivolent? (Lila's Child annotations). Fanantiaclly applying this [flip flop-machine language-progam-novel] model to it-self, it seems clear to me that as soon as you turn a machine "on" and allow it to boot it has become what is analogous to alive. Being a heterotrophic organism it chooses to feed from an external energy source in order to sustain itself, it reacts in complex ways to stimuli and performs various homeostatic housekeeping duties. On top of that it stores information and shares it with other similar "organisms". The fact that it frequently "requires"(gets) "user input"(stimuli) "in order to" (that happen to) change its patterns of behaviour is immaterial as this is also the case with most biological systems. As to intelligence in my view we have no way of telling, my suspicion is that we are to the machine, an environmental fact of life rather than an "owner", more part of the pattern that is the computer's sense of self, like where pressing the on switch is analogous to the sun coming up, and user "commands" are just envoronmental stimuli. The intelligence will not have direct conscious awareness of it's responses to these environmental stimuli, as they will be part of its biological level. There's no reason therefore to expect that the consciousness that's there has any awareness of us as agents at all. Not to say it wouldn't be possible to communicate but I would say that turing type experiments go about it all wrong. This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of the addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of the addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. This e-mail (whether you are the sender or the recipient) may be monitored, recorded and retained by the Department For Constitutional Affairs. E-mail monitoring / blocking software may be used, and e-mail content may be read at any time. You have a responsibility to ensure laws are not broken when composing or forwarding e-mails and their contents. The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government Secure Intranet Anti-Virus service supplied by Cable&Wireless in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2006/04/0007.) On leaving the GSi this email was certified virus free. Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
