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From: paul@morat.demon.co.uk (Paul Andrew King)
Subject: Re: If God exists, what created God?
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Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 17:24:34 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu sci.physics:118927 comp.ai.philosophy:27227

[alt.punk.straight-edge removed]

In article <D7KrKz.1xq@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>,
nfp5e@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Nathan Piazza) wrote:
>--The only problem is that a combination of robotics and
>artificial intelligence with an H-bomb strapped to his back
>still cannot invent new systems outside the parameters of the
>logical systems his human programmer gave him.  Goedel's theorem
>implies that logical systems gives rise to true statements
>outside themselves but which are not part of said system.  In other
>words, no logical system can describe objective reality (i.e.
>create).  Human beings defy this theorem, implying that
>humanity is more than just a logical system.

Do you have actual evidence that humans *do* defy Godel's theorem ?
Do you have any reason to believe that the limits *must* be important ?
Godel's theorem only holds for *consistent* systems, are you sure that an
AI (or any other intelligence) has to be representable as a *consistent*
logical system.

(Actually I have to wonder how relevant Godel's theorem is to intelligence.
 - I see two problems :
1. How do the concepts of "true" and "false" from the formal system map
back to the intelligence.
2. How do you account for external inputs ?  All possible inputs as axioms
?)

  For more info.,
>consult a physics text on Goedel.

I doubt that there is such a beast.  This issue usually comes up in
"Philosophy of AI"-type books.

Paul K.


