Thanks for the explanation. I gather from your explanation that your
original post was...how shall I say?...facetious. Still, it brings up some
interesting trains of thought. The quantum computer thing sounds pretty much
like an old fashioned god. But in order for the guy running the simulation
to be entertained by the simulation, he? she? it? would have to give the
acting subjects some equivalent of free will or at least build in random
determinates of the subjects' behavior, don't you think? So if the subjects
are given the ability to think and learn, I still don't see why you say that
we couldn't escape from the simulation. (I'm guessing that one of the
assumptions of the quantum computer theory is that humans are part of a
computer simulation. In this case,at least some of the subjects in the
simulation have the ability to think and learn).
I saw *The Matrix* yesterday and thought the acting and special effects were
very good. I enjoyed some of the dialogue immensely, liked the emphasis on
the individual and the presentation of a heroic hero. But I found the story
disappointing overall. The idea of the simulation was intriguing, but I was
sorry the authors didn't give the machines some more interesting use for
humans than as sources of electrical energy.
I'd like to see a film or read a story that was presented at least partly
from the point of view of the machine, in which the reader or viewer is
taken inside the mind of the machine. This would be a challenging story to
write, because the author would have to wrestle with the question of the
nature of consciousness. A really interesting story might be one in which
the reader doesn't know at first that she's being taken into the mind of the
machine.
On the nature of intelligence--the discussions I've participated in or read
seem to assume that an intelligent machine would surpass the human mind in
speed and complexity but would be qualitatively the same.
Some of the dictionary definitions of intelligence leave a bit more leeway
for the imagination. Take "the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate
one's environment," for example. (Webster's Collegiate)
where knowledge=being aware
aware=vigilance in observing and
observe=inspect or make note of.
Would an intelligent machine necessarily be curious?
Bonnie
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-extropians@extropy.com
[mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.com]On Behalf Of Michael S. Lorrey
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2000 3:59 PM
To: extropians@extropy.com
Subject: Re: The Matrix
There was a popular pseudo-scientific book by Talbot a few years ago yakking
about how our minds are holograms, and that the universe is a hologram, and
all
sorts of other stuff. Then you've got the more recent theories of black hole
natural selection, the idea that universes are produced by black holes in
other
universes, and universes that have physical laws that are conducive to
producing
black holes that produce other universes also are universes that have
physical
laws that make life possible. Couple this with the idea of the quantum
computer,
which theoretically can simulate a whole multiverse at a time, and you're
talking about some Universe Prime above ours where some dude is running our
universe as a simulation on his quantum computer (then there may be someone
in
another macroverse that is running HIS universe on a computer, and so
forth..
Mike Lorrey
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