Fred Chen wrote:
>
> As Russell has posted, the prisoner's universe is "over-specified" and
> so is actually more complex than our universe. However, if it is true
> that a Turing machine such as the Game of Life can realize a
> self-conscious being, then one wonders whether such a simply constructed
> universe would have less information and be more probable.
>
I think this is a very relevant point. If COMP were true, then indeed
the GoL will contain conscious beings. Since one may suppose an
ensemble of GoLs with different initial conditions, the only
infomation needed to specify the universe is the transition table for
the GoL. Of course, if the tenor of "Why Occam's Razor" is correct,
then any conscious observer within the GoL would not be aware of the
the GoL rules, but rather observe a physics remarkably similar to our
present understanding of Qunatum Mechanics.
Of course, the alternative is that maybe COMP is not true, something I
lean towards myself. Our universe creates information through
projection of superposed states onto classical outcomes. This process
requires a basic level of indeterminancy on the part of the conscious
beings, which I don't see happening in Turing machines.
Cheers
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Dr. Russell Standish Director
High Performance Computing Support Unit, Phone 9385 6967
UNSW SYDNEY 2052 Fax 9385 6965
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http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks
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Received on Tue Aug 22 2000 - 18:45:53 PDT