[Avodah] moon and sun

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 12:13:40PM +0000, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
: Yes, of course intelligent beings obey the laws of gravity. But our
: motions aren't always predictable. It is the very UNpredictability of
: our motion that demonstrates intelligence.

Early in the days of Artificial Intelligence, the discipline was
hijacked, IMHO, by all the attention given the Turing Test, proposed
Alan Turing in 1950. His paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"
<http://loebner.net/Prizef/TuringArticle.html> opens:

    I propose to consider the question, "Can machines think?" This should
    begin with definitions of the meaning of the terms "machine" and
    "think." The definitions might be framed so as to reflect so far as
    possible the normal use of the words, but this attitude is dangerous,
    If the meaning of the words "machine" and "think" are to be found
    by examining how they are commonly used it is difficult to escape
    the conclusion that the meaning and the answer to the question,
    "Can machines think?" is to be sought in a statistical survey such
    as a Gallup poll. But this is absurd. Instead of attempting such a
    definition I shall replace the question by another, which is closely
    related to it and is expressed in relatively unambiguous words.

    The new form of the problem can be described in terms of a game
    which we call the 'imitation game." It is played with three people,
    a man (A), a woman (B), and an interrogator (C) who may be of either
    sex. The interrogator stays in a room apart front the other two. The
    object of the game for the interrogator is to determine which of
    the other two is the man and which is the woman....

    In order that tones of voice may not help the interrogator the
    answers should be written, or better still, typewritten.... The best
    strategy for her is probably to give truthful answers. She can add
    such things as "I am the woman, don't listen to him!" to her answers,
    but it will avail nothing as the man can make similar remarks.

    We now ask the question, "What will happen when a machine takes the
    part of A in this game?" Will the interrogator decide wrongly as often
    when the game is played like this as he does when the game is played
    between a man and a woman? These questions replace our original,
    "Can machines think?"

IOW, while Turing was clear that he was replacing the original question,
it left a legacy of confusing the question of intelligence with that of
ACTING AS THOUGH it's intelligent. Arguably, it's possible that one can
prove that there is no way to act as though intelligent without involving
actual intelligence.

The test would miss intelligence in some alien species that views the
universe in a fundamentally different way than people do.

It would also miss the intelligence of someone trapped in an immobile
body, "locked in"
<http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/lockedinsyndrome/lockedinsyndrome.htm>
Rachmana litzlan.

It is similarly possible the moon has an intelligence but can't act or
physically communicate to express it.

However, as I said, there is nothing in the moon to warrant believing
there is a physical process implementing that intelligence, no "seat of
the soul". And an intellect detatched from physical form is more of a
guiding mal'akh or sar than the moon itself. There is no reason to call
both the physical rock and the detached intellect "moon", except if you
propose it's a collective noun.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The waste of time is the most extravagant
micha at aishdas.org        of all expense.
http://www.aishdas.org                           -Theophrastus
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