On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 4:50 PM, Pei Wang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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? >
It's an implication of quantum theory. However, it's not yet fully validated experimentally or theoretically. No one has ever, for instance, derived the periodic table of the elements from the laws of physics, without making a lot of hacky assumptions that amount to using known facts of chemistry to tune various constants in the derivations. ben g > > 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/?&; > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com > -- Ben Goertzel, PhD CEO, Novamente LLC and Biomind LLC Director of Research, SIAI [EMAIL PROTECTED] "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -- Robert Heinlein ------------------------------------------- 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
