Comment by DonHopkins
4 days ago
>p. 99 of "Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata": >Von Neumann had been interested in the applications of probability theory throughout his career; his work on the foundations of quantum mechanics and his theory of games are examples. When he became interested in automata, it was natural for him to apply probability theory here also. The Third Lecture of Part I of the present work is devoted to this subject. His "Probabilistic Logics and the Synthesis of Reliable Organisms from Unreliable Components" is the first work on probabilistic automata, that is, automata in which the transitions between states are probabilistic rather than deterministic. Whenever he discussed self-reproduction, he mentioned mutations, which are random changes of elements (cf. p. 86 above and Sec. 1.7.4.2 below). In Section 1.1.2.1 above and Section 1.8 below he posed the problems of modeling evolutionary processes in the framework of automata theory, of quantizing natural selection, and of explaining how highly efficient, complex, powerful automata can evolve from inefficient, simple, weak automata. A complete solution to these problems would give us a probabilistic model of self-reproduction and evolution. [9] [9] For some related work, see J. H. Holland, "Outline for a Logical Theory of Adaptive Systems", and "Concerning Efficient Adaptive Systems". https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/association-for-computing-machin... https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/5578... https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/10841 perl4ever on Dec 26, 2017 | root | parent | next [–] Tipler's Omega Point prediction doesn't seem like it would be compatible with the expanding universe, would it? Eventually everything will disappear over the speed-of-light horizon, and then it can't be integrated into one mind. DonHopkins on Dec 26, 2017 | root | parent | next [–] It also wishfully assumes that the one mind can't think of better things to do with its infinite amount of cloud computing power than to simulate one particular stone age mythology. Then again, maybe it's something like the 1996 LucasArts game Afterlife, where you simulate every different religion's version of heaven and hell at once.
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