On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 3:07 PM, Matt Mahoney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > An exact description of the quantum state of the universe gives you > everything else.
Why? Just because it is the smallest object we know? Is this a self-evident commonsense, or a conclusion from physics? As I said before, this is a very strong version of reductionism. It was widely accepted in the time of Newton and Laplace, but I don't think it is still considered as a valid theory in philosophy of science. This position is not only unjustifiable, but also lead the research to wrong directions. It is like to suggest an architect to analyze the structure of a building at atom level, because all building materials are made by atoms, after all. The fact that all building materials are indeed made by atoms only makes the suggestion even more harmful than a suggestion based on false statements. Pei ------------------------------------------- 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=117534816-b15a34 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
