Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
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From: btarbox@world.std.com (Brian J Tarbox)
Subject: Re: Minsky's new article
Message-ID: <CyyC64.M5t@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <39al9e$beq@coli-gate.coli.uni-sb.de> <39bl8t$gjs@cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu> <39f9ruINNbo1@life.ai.mit.edu> <39lf4g$9rg@coli-gate.coli.uni-sb.de>
Date: Tue, 8 Nov 1994 13:58:51 GMT
Lines: 16

|> gyro@netcom.com (Scott L. Burson):
|> >I think that Clarke and Kubrick in _2001_ tapped into a very
|> >profound truth: if a machine is placed in charge of anything,
|> >it will screw up.
|> 
|> Not a profound truth, but an ludicrously ignorant prejudice.

Actually, HAL didn't screw up, he/it was lead astray by bad instructions
from  its _human_ creators (as described in the 2nd and 3rd books).  HAL
acted reasonably given the orders he was given.

Brian Tarbox

-- 
"If the world is night, shine your life like a light"
-Indigo Girls
