Re: Goedel's theorem doesn't apply to robots (RE: SL5)

From: Thomas Buckner (tcbevolver@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Aug 18 2005 - 16:55:02 MDT


--- Phil Goetz <philgoetz@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Can Goedelian arguments show ANYTHING
> about systems that interact with the real
> world?

Well, informally, perhaps: the Law of Diminishing
Returns is a folk version of Godel's theorem, for
practical purposes. Humans avoid halting problems
in the real world by realizing at some point that
they will never have perfect information, never
be able to rake up that last leaf, never be able
to please everyone, and so on. Which might not be
as frivolous as it first sounds, as this is how
intelligent autonomous hominid brains have been
getting on in the real world for four million
years. The monkeys that over-analyzed got eaten.

Tom Buckner

                
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