Fuzzy logic (Was: Re: JP Barlow, Ph.D, Social Engineering)

Max More (maxmore@primenet.com)
Wed, 25 Sep 1996 00:19:19 -0700 (MST)


At 02:59 AM 9/25/96 +0100, Dr. Rich Artym wrote:
>Kathryn, the rise of fuzzy logic is not an excuse for mental sloppiness!
>Fuzzy logic is every bit as formal and exacting as binary logic. It's
>not a free pass allowing every handwaver and charlatan to claim that he
>has the backing of science and mathematics.

I agree. I once said to Bart (or maybe it was in my Extropy #12 review of
the book) that I thought it unfortunate that this approach came to be called
"fuzzy logic" rather than, say, many-valued logic. The word "fuzzy"
sometimes seems to invite abuse of the idea.

I'm having lunch with Bart Kosko tomorrow and will mention the current
discussion. He's a busy busy guy, but perhaps he may read and respond to
some of the messages, especially the criticism of the passage quoted.

Max

Max More, Ph.D. maxmore@primenet.com http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore
President, Extropy Institute (ExI), Editor, Extropy: Transhuman Technology,
Ideas, & Culture
310-398-0375 http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore/extropy.htm