I've found that if I can do 16 to 24 hours on, and then sleep, and then another 16 to 24 hours on as long as the body can keep up I can reach really high thresholds of productivity with ephemeral visions of deep, comprehensive insight. In the past I've done self-directed data compression R&D, written video games, telephony switching software in this way on up to 2 year stints. 8 hours is just warming up. And the concept of the "Long Day Society" I've kicked about for years where the day I think is too short at 24 hours. Stretching the wake sleep cycle could help us live longer....
But the software I'm working on (WKG - Web Knowledge Gatherer) is pre-AGI and at some point will need to "grow a brain" :) so reading all these discussions and interactions especially among the more astute and learned individuals on this email list is very informative gives perspective on some of the R&D that is going on. And any posts and references on good learning material and books are helpful. I've just started reading "The Symbolic Species" by Terrence W. Deacon which has sat on my shelf for years :) and is a little outdated I suppose but has some good information and provides some examples examining the human brain but ... brain and computer software soooo different and the brain is such a conglomerated mish-mash of evolutionary cognitive appendages! It's almost like OK need to start from scratch when building AGI like when software becomes fragile, rigid, brittle, and rots (as Agile design tries to avoid). If the brain could be decompiled, which I'm sure we are getting closer, how much of it would really be useful for AGI? Would the source code be too messy and spaghetti like? Are there any algorithms and data structures that haven't been discovered in mathematics? And modeling AGI after brain... maybe loosely. Do we model machines after human body design, some yes but others not, say an army tank is in some ways like a human body but it more accommodates humans (and disaccommodates) than is modeled after. The decompiled brain source code would have some really amazing undiscovered stuff in there. Maybe it couldn't be represented with conventional programming languages. I wonder... parts of it would be immensely sophisticated yes that's a de facto assumption :). And it could be decompiled at many levels. I suppose a functional level, macroscopic decompiler could be made now there are probably many in existence... John > -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Loosemore [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 9:58 AM > To: agi@v2.listbox.com > Subject: Time Enough For Work [WAS Re: [agi] What would motivate you to > put work into an AGI project?] > > > Myself, I think that the number of hours working alone might only need > to be a small number (3-4). But what I value most is hours > brainstorming with others who are of like mind and similar level of > knowledge. That is a gold-dust situation. > > I have been watching From The Earth To The Moon recently. Oh to be part > of a 100,000-strong community working on one noble project! > > > Richard Loosemore. > > Jean-Paul Van Belle wrote: > > Interesting question you raise there, Matt (vs :) YKY > > > > How many of us would be prepared to work FULL-TIME on AGI: > > (0) If a department of defense/military organisation paid you develop > a > > secret AGI for national defense/intelligence purpose? > > (1) If a Microsoft, Google, Sun or IBM came along and hired you > > full-time to work on either > > (1a) Open-Source; or > > (1b) Proprietary AGI? > > (2) A more 'friendly' research group came along (e.g. University, > > government agency) to pay you fulltime > > (2a) on *their* design/architecture or > > (2b) on YOUR design but having to share your findings with the > larger > > community (shared credit)? > > (3) If you had sufficient funds of your own? > > > > Re (3) I have often wondered how much time one could really spend > > continuously on working on AGI - refer to the Princeton Instititue of > > Advanced Studies where established geniuses (such as Einstein) > were/are > > paid to devote fulltime efforts to thinking but actually not many > > earthshaking ideas have come out of it. Don't we need a lot of 'time > > wasted' on trivia such as a real job, leaking plumbing and family in > > order to have these 1 or 2 hours of creative thinking/work each day? > > Would it help to have consolidated 8 hour or longer blocks each day? > Do > > people like Ben, Leitz and Peter (Voss) really have so much time to > > think creatively/design or is my suspicion right that a lot of their > > (your :) time is spent on fundraising, PR, communication, management? > > The grass always seems greener on the other side... > > > > Jean-Paul > ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=231415&user_secret=fabd7936