Newsgroups: comp.ai,comp.robotics,comp.ai.philosophy
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!solaris.cc.vt.edu!uunet!bcstec!aw108!gcr8829
From: gcr8829@aw101.iasl.ca.boeing.com (Gustav C. Rettke)
Subject: Re: Minsky's new article (was: Roger Penrose's new book)
Message-ID: <1994Nov10.210713.5494@aw101.iasl.ca.boeing.com>
Organization: fsl
References: <39al9e$beq@coli-gate.coli.uni-sb.de>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 21:07:13 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.ai:25147 comp.robotics:15234 comp.ai.philosophy:21907

From article <39al9e$beq@coli-gate.coli.uni-sb.de>, by sean@mpi-sb.mpg.de (Sean Matthews):
> 
> The tone of this article reminds me of myself when I was about 13, when
> I read too much science fiction, and science fiction masquerading as
> science journalism.
> 
> <picture small boy leaping excitedly round indulgent father>
> 
> `And daddy, in the future we're going to have brains the size of planets.
>  And, and...., daddy we're going to live for ever, and, daddy we're
>  going to turn into super powerful robots; daddy, isn't it exiting!'
> 
> <now picture father patting small boy indulgently on head>
> 
> `Yes, Marvin, that will be wonderful. Now why don't you go outside
>  and play football with your friends; the weather is so good.'
> 
> I paraphase only slightly.
> 
I wonder, do you suppose Leonardo De Vinci'd (sp) pat him on the head like that
when he jabbered on about flying machines and such.  Mostly likely someone
did.  But he was right.

The patronizing contempt for visionaries you seem to foster is probably part
of the molasses (sp) that makes progress seem so slow at times.

Carl Sagan has said that science is part speculation and part skepticism.  My
reading on Minsky is that he meets this criteria for a scientist.


Gus Rettke			| Programming - the key to understanding and
				|		utilizing the computer.


