Re: What language will be used to write the first self aware program?

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006, Tayssir John Gabbour wrote:

Raffael Cavallaro wrote:
We humans on the other hand can know if we are inside the Matrix ;^).

How? I would have taken this remark as a joke, but Tayssir below and Pascal B. elsewhere seem to take it at face value.


Hmm, it seems to me that you have a different notion of self-awareness
than I do. Yours seems to require stronger problem-solving abilities
than mine.

Most humans probably be hard-pressed to determine whether their
computer's OS right now is running under some unexpected VM... and we
have advantages like running on our own "specialized machines," being
able to reliably access outside information, etc.

Also, your notion might exclude many animals I consider self aware.
I've observed animals who misrepresent themselves to others, in order
to trick them into letting them have something. (For example, a rat
feigning disinterest while pretending to look in another direction, so
another rat won't be too aware she's sneaking up to take some food.)
But they probably couldn't figure out whether they're brains in vats,
or add large numbers.

I agree that there is not much point in believing one is a brain in a vat and letting that influence ones decisions, but in what sense can one _know_ that this is not the case?

And humans even have problems with propaganda systems, which are much
weaker than brains-in-vats systems. Some critics like Einstein claimed
that under media and education control, it is "extremely difficult, and
indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to
come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his
political rights."
http://www.monthlyreview.org/598einst.htm

Tayssir

-Mikko Heikelä
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A question about FOL theories and models
    ... Aatu Koskensilta wrote: ... in Shoenfield's 'N' formal system. ... disembodied brains in vats. ... I don't worry so much about being a brain in vat as I do about the vats ...
    (sci.logic)
  • Re: Doggystyle gets 13 year sentence ..No Parole
    ... How about letting me know who you are? ... It's making me mildly batty. ... But I won't rat you out. ... * kill-files, watch-lists, favorites, and more.. ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)