On Sat, Oct 4, 2008 at 8:37 PM, Mike Tintner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> Matt:The problem you describe is to reconstruct this image given the highly > filtered and compressed signals that make it through your visual perceptual > system, like when an artist paints a scene from memory. Are you saying that > this process requires a consciousness because it is otherwise not > computable? If so, then I can describe a simple algorithm that proves you > are wrong: try all combinations of pixels until you find one that looks the > same. > > Matt, > > Simple? Well, you're good at maths. Can we formalise what you're arguing? A > computer screen, for argument's sake. 800 x 600, or whatever. Now what is > the total number of (diverse) objects that can be captured on that screen, > and how long would it take your algorithm to enumerate them? > > (It's an interesting question, because my intuition says to me that there > is an infinity of objects that can be depicted on any screen (or drawn on a > page). Are you saying that there aren't? - There is a finite number of possible screen-images, at least from the point of view of the process sending digital signals to the screen. If the monitor refreshes each pixel N times per second, then over an interval of T seconds, if each pixel can show C colors, then there are C^(N*T*800*600) possible different scenes showable on the screen during that time period.... A big number but finite! Drawing on a page is a different story, as it gets into physics questions, but it seems rather likely there is a finite number of pictures on the page that are distinguishable by a human eye. So, whether or not an infinite number of objects exist in the universe, only a finite number of distinctions can be drawn on a monitor (for certain), or by an eye (almost surely) ben g ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=114414975-3c8e69 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
