Re: Turing Machines Have no Real Time Clock (Was The Game of Life)

From: <GSLevy.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 19:30:01 EDT

In a message dated 05/21/2000 3:21:33 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
jackmallah.domain.name.hidden writes:

> > GSLevy.domain.name.hidden wrote:
> > > Turing Machines have no real time clock and no
> > > interrupt. If we assume the comp hypothesis
> > > (purely based on Turing machines) and the
> anthropic
> > > principle, then the flow of consciousness can only
> > > be constrained by the logical nature of the links
> > > pernitting transitions from one observer moment
> > > to the next. Time therefore is an illusion derived
> > > from such a logical flow.
>
> I just noticed this claim that TMs are not
> clocked, and as far as I could tell it is self
> evidently false, so I don't see how someone could make
> it. The very definition of a TM involves actions of
> the head at each clock step.

Please!!! Of course Turing Machines have clocks!!!! They perform their
operations sequentially and need a "clock signal" to move from one step to
the next. The duration between the clock pulses can vary and can be entirely
arbitrary, one picosecond or ten milleniums. But they don't have REAL TIME
CLOCKS, Jacques!!!! You know the kind that tells computers the time of day
and the date... And of course they also don't have interrupts!

George
Received on Sun May 21 2000 - 16:32:03 PDT