From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!psgrain!percy!nosun!hilbert!max Thu Jan  9 10:33:39 EST 1992
Article 2510 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: max@hilbert.cyprs.rain.com (Max Webb)
Newsgroups: sci.philosophy.tech,sci.logic,sci.math,comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Penrose on Man vs. Machine
Summary: compilers can detect some nonhalting programs.
Keywords: the limits of human understanding: no such thing
Message-ID: <1992Jan6.001026.7109@hilbert.cyprs.rain.com>
Date: 6 Jan 92 00:10:26 GMT
References: <1991Dec23.135321.6894@husc3.harvard.edu> <1991Dec27.051804.6985@cambridge.oracorp.com> <1991Dec27.184248.6939@husc3.harvard.edu>
Organization: Cypress Semiconductor Northwest, Beaverton Oregon
Lines: 32

In article (Mikhail Zeleny) writes:
>The point is not whether human beings can solve all instances of the
>halting problem, or tell whether an arbitrary collection of axioms is
>consistent, but that each time they do so in any particular case, their
>reasoning is essentially non-algorithmic, as claims Penrose.

1) Data flow algorithms (as used in optimizing compilers) can detect
some non halting programs.

2) therefore data flow algorithms are non-algorithmic.

3) therefore my c++ compiler is not a program.

???

This ranks right up there with Mikhail's claim that his mind is
capable of infinite recursion, and hence cannot be an FSA. I
have mailed him a 100k file of nested parenthesis, square brackets,
and curly brackets.

Given his ability to infinitely recurse, it should be trivial
for him to read through it, detect the mismatched bracket, correct
it, and send it back.

No fair using external storage, like pen and paper. If you CAN'T
do it, then you have only limited recursion, and are no better
than an FSA in that respect.

(sorry if someone already pointed this out - my news feed died
for a few weeks up stream)

	Max


